Time will be the Judge
by SetsunaNoroi
Summary: Dan Phantom is pure evil. So why is he helping Danny, following Clockwork's orders, being heckled by "Sam", and letting that puny clone tease him? Life sucks when you can't kill people, and why does Dani smile whenever she sees him and Clock together?
1. The Librarian

Okay, I have been planning this for a while, and I decided to finally do it since I don't have many other projects on my mind at the moment.

So, some things that need to be said before the start of this story. First off, this is going to have some pairings in it. I'm not going to list them right now cause I think it'll be more fun to be surprised, however it does includes a yaoi pairing that I noticed there is quite a lack of, Clockwork/Dark Dan Phantom. If guy/guy bothers you for any reason, you may not want to read this. I would appreciate it if I did not get any flames simply because you don't like the idea of men together, because I stated flat out it would be in there. I don't mind if you don't like that sort of thing because everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but I'd rather no one get offended.

Secondly, this is going to be quite a long and epic story, with quite a lot of characters (including Dani, love her too much to leave her out). I have outlines for a large part of it, and I plan to update once a week, probably on Saturday, simply because it's always my off day, but this may not always be the case. I will do my best to be diligent though. I also haven't seen Danny Phantom for a good year too (waaaah!) due to no longer having cable and the episodes are limited on the Internet. I'm going by memory and the info I can salvage online. So if I screw something up, I am really sorry. Some things to note though, Danny is now 15, the city knows that Danny is Danny Phantom, but Vlad is still the mayor. No one knows about who really he is and he is still doing… you know, stalkerish evil things.

… Why is he one of my favorite characters again?

Thirdly, I want to get the disclaimer out of the way now. I don't own Danny Phantom. This is purely for my own enjoyment (and I hope other's as well). No Copyright Infringement is intended, I am simply hoping to make a decent tribute to a great show. The only thing I own is the idea and some OCs. I'd list them, but I'm sure everyone will be able to point them out for themselves. If it doesn't sound familiar, than it's probably of my creation.

Chapter One: The Librarian

Candlelight flickered off the walls, illuminating the library that Opal was currently working in. Standing on top of a stepladder, she slipped a large leather-bound text back into place and climbed down in order to attend to the next stack of books that needed to be replaced. It had been a busy day, checking on the developing books, making sure everything was on course while her master was gone. She was eager to take some time to rest after she finished up with her current chore.

She picked up the three-pronged candle holder from the floor and made her way out of the long aisle that the bookshelves formed and to the desk where she had her final group of books that required attention.

A soft breeze blew past her neck and Opal suddenly stiffened, looking behind her in a confused manner. There were no windows, and the door to the realm was firmly shut. No wind should have been able to get in, and it was impossible for the Library to have any cracks in the walls. She was the only person here too… yet she could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was the same as that unpleasant feeling in someone's stomach when they knew they were being watched.

"Hello?" she called out to the barely lit room. She wondered perhaps if one of the Observerants had come to visit, in order to check on progress. But they were not the type to skulk around, and she would have felt their presence already. They had never hid themselves before and had no reason to do so now that she knew of.

She didn't receive an answer, but it only made her more suspicious. Placing the candle holder down on the desk, her hands traced over one of her earrings, ready to pull it out and "greet" whoever had the audacity to break into this realm without permission. A sudden series of loud thumps sounded behind her and made her whirl around to see several books had fallen from their shelves, seemingly on their own.

"Who is out there?" she called out, starting to get angry. "Make your presence known to me or face the consequences! Keeping to the shadows like a thief in the night, I would have your miserable body flailed for acting such a coward. Come out and state your business or be warned before I seek you out; you will not be pleased with my actions once I locate you in these shadows!"

"I'm sorry, but what that suppose to be threatening or something?"

Opal gasped and turned back sharply before almost doubling over from the sudden blow to her stomach. The hit had been too much to have come from a person; feeling more like a rock had been thrust into her stomach. Staggering back, she clutched at her stomach with one hand, the other on the desk to keep herself upright. Coughing lightly, she attempted to look up before a fist was slammed crudely into her face and knocked her to the ground, her head cracking sickeningly against the stone laid floor. Her eyes closed as her mind almost immediately blacked out against the impact, leaving her body sprawled pathetically on the ground, defenseless.

"To think that you of all people would have been chosen for such an important task as guarding the Library while Scrinium was away," her assailant muttered over her. "How pathetic. It's only a shame he isn't here to see what a mistake it was to pick you up in the first place. But it'll get to him eventually, if you even have the guts to face him."

The figure stooped over her for only a moment before seeing what the whole point of the little "visit" had even been for. Old keys jingled as the whole ring containing them was slipped from her belt before they were thrown into the air and caught in a joyful manner. Above Opal, her attacker grinned. So far, it was promising to be a very productive day.

#---------#

A soft groan escaped Opal's lips as her eyes opened. Her head was spinning, and her whole body felt sore as she weakly pushed herself up off of the ground. Sitting up, she placed a hand to her forehead, trying to stop the pounding on the inside of her skull that made her feel like there was a wild animal in her head, trying to escape by busting out through the bars.

Remembering what had caused her to wake up on the floor in such pain, she looked around suddenly, trying to locate the person. She was alone however, whoever had attacked her long gone. It didn't take her long either to notice that her belt was undone, and that her key ring was not at her side, or anywhere near her.

"No!" she cried out as her eyes widened in horror. She stood quickly, despite the painful protests of her body, and ran as fast as she could past the shelves and to the back of the Library. Her boot clad feet clicked loudly as she raced to the vaults, stopping short as her worst fears were confirmed. One of the heavy steel doors hung open carelessly, a skeleton key still inside the keyhole and the ring and other keys hanging from it. She stood there and stared, not even able to tear her eyes from the sight of the room past the door, books scattered around the floor and shelves. Someone had been searching for something relentlessly… and she had a feeling she already knew what was missing.

Slowly, she made her way into the room. Her body movement felt awkward, both from the pain and the horror of what was happening. Hearing glass crush under her boot, she looked down to the many shattered fragments of glass littering the floors. Looking up, she saw the once whole glass case laying on it side, broken beyond repair and its contents gone. Even the gold frame was in disarray, bent and twisted in parts, and other parts completely snapped, as if the framing had been little more than twigs.

Swallowing, she bowed her head before slowly looking up to the ceiling, as if praying.

She had no choice; she had to fix this. She had to go outside for help.

#---------#

Danny Fenton was enjoying what could easily be considered a peaceful day. There hadn't been a ghost attack for the last week, and a lazy Saturday was in progress with playing video games, hanging with his friends and 'cousin' Dani, and eating so much take out pizza he would probably be sick later. It was the perfect time for the fifteen-year-old to just relax and be himself.

"Hey Danny," Sam asked suddenly from where she was watching the boy fight Tucker in the latest Tekken game. She fidgeted and looked at the wall a little nervously. "You have any plans for Halloween Autumn Festival?"

"Oh, you mean the dance at the school," he replied then went still. Tucker elbowed him in the ribs suddenly, Dani giggling at seeing the older halfa blush. Things between him and Sam had always gone back and forth between friendship and maybe something just a little bit more. But lately, well... the whole confession thing had finally come around to a head, and it was officially known they liked each other. There hadn't been any official date or anything between them, heck they weren't even calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but from the sounds of it, Sam had just thought up a perfect first date for them. "I… we can go together, I guess."

He winced almost immediately at the words that he'd said. Great, he sounded both lame and unenthusiastic.

Sam however looked surprised then blushed.

"Oh, right. Great. But actually… I'm kinda helping plan for it… and I was hoping you and Tucker could help."

"Hey, what about me?" Dani whined, saving Danny from having to respond. "I could be great at Halloween!"

"Well, it's just that you're not in high school yet," Sam said. "Most of the set up will be during school hours, but you know you can come during the dance if you want to. It'll be great, you, Tucker… and Danny and I. Right Danny?"

Tucker snickered slightly from the awkward position the two had suddenly found themselves in. Danny barely held in a sigh from how weird this whole thing was.

"Yeah. Yeah, sounds great," he said before immediately standing up. He needed to get away from this for a second. "Anyone want more soda? I'll get us some."

"Man, we already have the sodas out here," Tucker said with a raised eyebrow.

"Chips then. Gotta have chips with pizza," he replied a little too quickly and shot out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Gee, that went well," he muttered to himself as searched through the cupboards for the snacks. "Could I be any more lame?"

"I'm sure you could pull it off if you tried."

"Ahhh!"

Danny whirled around to see Clockwork looking down at him, a bemused expression on the ghost's face.

"Man, what is it? I'm looking for-"

"You can tell me all the reasons why you ran from your girlfriend later on," he replied with a wave of his gloved hand. "I have something we need to talk about."

"Is now the best time?" he asked, seeing his peaceful Saturday go up in smoke.

"Well, I could wait until the universe collapses upon itself if your schedule is a little too booked with the teenage social drama, but that would hardly be prudent of me."

Danny sighed and shook his head. Talking to Clockwork was never what he'd call a ball of laughs, but he was pretty sure the ghost made a point of trying to annoy him at times.

"Look, I… Wait, what? What do you mean, collapsing universe?" he asked incredulously.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked as the others came into he kitchen. "We heard you yell and… Oh."

"Hey Clockwork," Dani said and waved her hand, as if the ghost had stopped over to play video games as well. "What's up?"

"Apparently the universe is going to collapse," Danny said and looked at Clockwork. "What's going on? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I am quite sure there is. Otherwise I would not have not come to you in the first place," Clockwork replied. "I need you to come with me to the Ghost Zone, all of you."

The four exchanged looks before Danny looked back to Clockwork and nodded while shifting quickly to his ghost form. Dani gave a small grin and transformed too.

"I've always wanted to see Clockwork's place," she said to herself excitedly.

"Try not to break anything when we get there," Danny told her then, ignoring the tongue stuck out at him, turned to Clockwork. "Okay. I'm really not sure I know what's going on, but I'll help out if I can."

"Excellent," Clockwork replied and opened a portal. "Follow me."

They stepped in after Clockwork floated though and all four stopped, not seeing what they had expected. Thinking they would have been taken to Clockwork's realm to talk, they were instead surprised to see themselves in a rather impressive looking library. The ceiling was high above their heads, at least three or four stories tall, and the bookshelves were almost as big, crammed full with books of all sizes and colors. The shelves' ends faced them, making aisles and forming a large circled space that they were in, along with a large desk, and many rolled parchments and a quill resting on top of it. The floor was tiled with stones like a cobbled street and along the walls of stone that Danny could see, there rested gargoyles of all menacing shapes.

It looked like the kind of decoration that Sam would have loved for her house to have if she could only talk her parents into it.

"Uncle?" a voice asked and out from one of the aisles, a young woman stepped out. Blond hair was braided and looped in a tight bun at the back of her head, and gray eyes stared at the group in curiosity. She was dressed in a white blouse and black skirt, slit to her hips on both sides and white leggings underneath to protect her modesty. Her shirt had no sleeves attached to it; instead black coverings were on both of her arms, tied above her elbows by white string. In fact, string held most of her outfit in place, from the back of her blouse to the skirt tied to her waist. Black ankle boots and a black tie completed her outfit, along with a few rings on her left hand, studded earrings on her ears, a few bracelets on each arm, and a chain necklace with a charm that looked like a sword hanging over her chest "Uncle, you are back. I was worried while you were away. Do you yet know of the fiend who has stolen the treasure most precious to the Library?"

"Uncle?" Danny asked and looked to the girl who most definitely looked human and back to the ghost. "Uh, am I missing something here?"

"Yes," Clockwork replied. "But it doesn't surprise me much anymore."

Danny grumbled a little and Clockwork chuckled briefly.

"Danny Phantom, this is Opal, Assistant Librarian and Caretaker of the Library of the Worlds. She also happens to be the adoptive daughter of the ghost who is in charge of this library, my brother. Opal, this is the help I promised, Danny Phantom and his friends."

"Wait, library of what now?" Tucker asked.

"Library of the Worlds," Opal supplied. "It is no less than the safe hold of the worlds' histories. I am unaware if you posses this knowledge, but there are many different realities besides your own. Every time a decision is made that could alter the future, the course sometimes travels down the roads of all the possibilities. Wars, leaders that have been placed in power, people who have died or survived, if these events are powerful enough, they split from reality and create their own world. I believe the common term for this is 'Multiverse'."

"You mean there are other versions of us, that we don't even know about?" Sam asked.

"Whoa," Dani said. "That's pretty cool. Hmm, wonder how many of me are out there."

"So… since you're one of the librarians here, you take care of all these histories or something?" Tucker asked.

"It is as you say," she replied with a nod. "All of these worlds must be documented, and are recorded in these books you see here. My master, Scrinium, found me in the mortal realm as a child, alone and without a family to care for me. Taking pity on me, he took me in as his own daughter and gave me the duty to watch over his realm and home when he was away. However… recently I have failed to fulfill my duty as a guardian. An unknown assailant came and overpowered me in mere moments before ransacking one of the vaults, and took one of the most powerful and precious items to grace these walls."

"What was it? Some kind of weapon?" Danny asked.

"It could only be considered something so foul in the wrong hands, which I am sad to report is most likely the case," Opal replied and went over to the desk, picking up the quill and showing it to them. A pure white, it seemed to have a faint glow.

"This is what my master uses when he is out working. His duty is to document all new worlds that come into existence. After the first few chapters are written, the book will begin to fill itself, needed only to be checked upon occasionally to ensure the time flow is continuing as it should. This quill is not as powerful as the one my master uses, for it can only affect one book, the book it was original created with. You see, once my master is finished writing, he will make a duplicate of his own quill to continue without his assistance. The world that this quill recorded has long since crumbled, making it quite useless for little more than regular writing. However, there is one quill, the Quill, that he leaves here, in case of emergencies."

"What can that quill do?" Danny asked.

"These are no mere books, young Danny Phantom," she replied. "They have a power to them. To change the writings, the histories, would to be to change the worlds. Such an act is forbidden to be practiced, unless the circumstances are most grievant. We must allow people to forge their own destinies, to be allowed to make their own choices. Even in the event of when you met your own evil side, you were given the choice not to become him. To write your life out, simply to change you, would have been wrong."

"Wait, you know about that?" Sam asked.

"I do," Opal replied. "I have read many of these books. The tale of Dan's world is a sad one, though thankfully, closed now. Only the book remains to tell the story. However, sometimes there is no other choice. Sometimes a world happens where there is no good to salvage. Sometimes, we must rewrite it, much like burning part of a forest, so the whole wood can flourish later. It is not a task I have ever enjoyed, and sometimes, the way we write it can only make it worse. No one but Uncle Clockwork can see the future for certain, and it is not his task to protect the worlds in the same way it is ours. It is an action that we weigh heavily before we chose to follow through with it. That is why there is only one quill that has the power to rewrite the books. In our hands, it is only a tool to herd in the right direction, but in someone else's…"

"In someone else's," Tucker said. "They could try to rewrite whatever they wanted. They could make themselves unbeatable, or take whole worlds hostage."

"Okay, that can't be good," Dani said. "So why don't we just find the guy and take him out before he can do anything?"

Clockwork shook his head while chuckling softly.

"Amazing how the young always think that problems are so easy to solve. I'm afraid it's going to take more effort than that."

"Luckily, we do have something to our advantage. The Quill is not all powerful. There are rules implanted within it," Opal replied. "They would still need the right book to write in, but I believe if this person knew about the Quill, than he or she must have knowledge of the Library and a potential world to conquer first. I have searched extensively since the theft, but have found no books missing. However, as you can see, there are quite a few of them. I doubt the thief would have left with only half the prize, especially since there was no one to stop his search."

"Each book for one world," Sam whispered. "There are so many. It's kind of… daunting actually."

"Do you have any suspects?" Tucker asked. "Call me crazy, but I don't think that a lot of people should know about a feathered pen that can rewrite or destroy the world as we know it."

"And they do not," Opal answered. "The knowledge of the Quill has always been a guarded secret, however I can not say for sure that no one of ill intentions knows of it. My master only took me in a mere three hundred and fifty years ago. Much of this library has existed long before I, along with the people who would visit it. If there is someone with cruel intentions, I do not know of them, but my lack of knowledge is no proof."

"Three hundred and fifty?" Danny repeated back. "Man, the candles must be a pain whenever your birthday comes around."

Opal blinked.

"I bed your pardon?"

"Danny," Sam chided. "Try to be serious here."

"Right, right," Danny said. "So, can't Clockwork just tell you who did it? I mean, that would just be easiest, right? Or heck, just have him go back in time and change it."

"Easiest yes, and already thought of," Clockwork answered. "I don't know how it was arranged, but I have no idea how this happened, or who did it."

"Oh, well…" Danny said, feeling a little deflated. "Now that can't be good. I don't understand though, I thought you were all powerful and junk. How could someone affect your powers. Is there a book or something to control you?"

Opal looked at Clockwork, incredibly worried.

"There… is a book for every realm, including the Ghost Zone. But… I would not even know where to find it. An item like that, it's so well hidden even I have never been told of it's location," the mortal librarian stated.

"So… there's no way to check if it's gone," Dani said. "Bummer."

"It's not gone," Clockwork said suddenly. "Trust me. It's unsettling not to have full access to my powers in this situation, but no quill would have the hope of affect the Ghost Realm, or any of the keepers like Scrinium or I. We aren't capable of being affected. Whoever the thief is may not be letting me see the any time line concerning him, but I still control myself."

"Well, there's that at least. But still, what am I suppose to do?" asked Danny. "Give us a bad guy to trash, no problem, but this is a bit more difficult."

"To be put simply Danny Phantom," Clockwork replied. "You're very unique in many cases. You have proven yourself time and time again to be relentless and willing to fight against all evil, even yourself. Whoever this person is, even without seeing the future outcome of this, I have a feeling I know his plan. Anyone of power written in these books could be manipulated, forced to be slaves to this person, to form an army under him. He could give himself unmeasured power, or simply kill any who would oppose him by writing that they never existed. You however… are safe from his control."

"I am?" Danny asked. "How?"

"When you met and fought Dan Phantom," Opal answered, "you did so much more than just save your family and friends. You gave yourself the ultimate defense against the Quill. You see, your actions put you in two books, your own, and the darker world of Dan Phantom, a world that no longer can be manipulated. There are exceptions to the quill's power. A book of a world that had already run its course cannot be affected, for there is little point to rewriting the history. What's dead is dead, and we can only hope for better outcomes of the others. Also, if one somehow visits another world, and finds himself as a player in two separate stories, one cannot be changed without changing the other. Since Dan Phantom's world cannot be affected, you cannot, nor your friends who went there with you. Even if the thief had both books, which he has neither, that I can attest to, he cannot affect you. You, and your friends, are very close to being the only hope we have."

"So, is this Scrinium aware of the situation?" Sam asked. "I mean, this is pretty important. He should know."

"My master is recording as we speak," the librarian answered. "I fear there is no means to contact him when he is working, and the recording of a world can take quite a while."

"Define a while," Tucker asked. "What, days, weeks?"

"Years," Opal supplied. "This is why he needed an assistant to take care of the library in his absence. Even a ghost like him, his work is complicated, and requires more power than I could ever posses, or even contemplate. In all my years being here, I have never encountered an emergency like this. My chores have never been more than to make sure the books did not stop writing themselves. While I do have power to fight off intruders, there has never been a case before of my actually having to defend it in such a way. My failure, though unforgivable, was no doubt foreseen and counted on by our enemy. I believe he has planned well. And, I fear he will come back, for the books of course. He may have stolen some that I have yet to account for, but I imagine it is only a starting point. Such a power, I do not think it will satisfy him at such a limit of a few worlds when he could have them all."

"But we can't wait for him to come back," Dani said. "This guy could have a hungry army of mean and ugly bad guys by then! We need to take him out as fast as possible, right Danny?"

Danny stared at his younger clone. Something was slowly clicking in his mind.

"You never went to the future," he said slowly. "You hadn't even been born yet."

"Yeah, so?" Dani asked. "You told me all about it. Cross between my dad and you. What's your point?"

"Don't you get it Dani? You aren't in both books. You aren't safe like we are," Danny said.

"So?" Dani said, suddenly seeing where this was going and not liking it one bit.

"So… you could be controlled," Sam said as she and Tucker realized the same thing.

"Not if this creep doesn't get the book," Dani said quickly, her fist clenched up and feeling a little scared. "We just beat him first. Come on Danny, don't leave me out! I'm just as powerful as you are."

"Dani, you know I can't risk it," Danny said and put his hands on her shoulders. "It doesn't matter how powerful you are. What if something bad happened and this person got control of you? I couldn't fight you, don't you understand that?"

"But…"

"No buts. Besides, someone needs to go back and tell the others-"

"If you think I'm going back just to tell our family about this than you're nuts Danny! I'm helping you," she argued back. "Come on…please?"

Danny smiled a little at the pout. Any other time he'd be happy to have Dani back him up. He knew she could handle herself and she was a great partner. This was different though, and he just couldn't risk it.

"Don't worry," Danny said and gave her a thumbs up. "I'll have this guy taken care of before you know it."

"Heh, so sure of yourself," a voice sounded from behind the group. "But, we always were cocky, weren't we Daniel?"

Danny knew that voice; it was one that was burned in his memory, despite the time that had passed since he had last heard it. It still made him wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, and made his blood run cold at hearing it now. Whirling around, he came face-to-face with Dan Phantom, smirking down at his younger self.

"Hello Daniel," he said cruelly.

End Chapter One

DUN DUN DUN! All right, I doubt anyone was shocked, I said already he was in the story but HEY, I bet Danny didn't see it coming! Anyway, sorry for leaving it at a cliffhanger like this, well… no I'm not. Not really. I will be getting the next chapter out soon though, so you can see what the hell is going on. Till then, please review. I always love hearing from fellow fans. Whether it's good or to tell me I royally screwed something up, all of the comments really help.


	2. Recruiting

Second chapter posted right on time! Quite a few reviews in such a short amount of time too. It really surprised me this would get so much attention so quickly. ^_^

Right, I don't own Danny Phantom, character or show. I do however own Opal and Scrinium. It occurred to me one day if Clockwork watched over time, wouldn't there be other ghosts just like him with jobs that were sort of similar? Thus, Scrinium was born and the story sort of followed. I should note that Scrinium and Clockwork are not exactly what we would define as brothers. They're not really flesh and blood related since they've always been ghosts, but it is sort of in the same a way the Observers could consider each other brothers. It felt like that kind of connection would be suitable, and it gave Opal a reason to go to Clockwork first. I didn't think there was ever going to be a reason for the explanation to come up in the story, but I just felt like clearing it up now.

Well, I do believe that's all, so enjoy the story.

Chapter Two: Recruiting

"You!" he cried and immediately shoved a startled Dani behind him. "You're the one behind this? How did you even get out of the Thermos?"  
"Oh, that's easy," Clockwork replied as he flicked away a speck of dirt not even on his cloak. He would not deny that was amusing, at least a tad. "I let him out."

Danny felt like a ton of bricks had just hit him. He looked to Clockwork and Opal, both who seemed completely calm, then back his future self. Clockwork had _let_ this psycho out? He was at least a little relieved to see at least Tucker and Sam looked as horrified and confused as he felt. At least he wasn't the one who lost his mind. For a second he thought he had.

"You wanna explain why you would do something like that?" Even though he was speaking to Clockwork, his eyes were set directly on the man… no, the monster in front of him. He frowned a little as he saw Dan was still looking down at him with that twisted smile if his. He kept his arm firmly on Dani to keep her behind him, despite her attempts to see the nightmare that Danny had told her so much about.

Clockwork sighed and gave Dan a level look.

"Oh, come on Clockwork. I agreed to help, I never said I wouldn't have my fun with the boy," Dan said as he crossed his arms, but did at least have the decency to back off a few paces.

"Thank you," Clockwork replied.

"Hey wait a second," Tucker said quickly. "What is this guy even doing here? I mean, you didn't really let him out, did you?"

"And what does he mean he agreed to help? He tried to torture Danny and kill us," Sam accused. "He wouldn't help us!"

"Unless I gave him the proper persuasion," Clockwork replied and smirked at Dan.

The older man snarled. Persuasion his ass! This was flat out blackmail.

#---------#

"Uncle, are you sure this is a wise course of action?" Opal asked as she looked at the Thermos in Clockwork's hands. "I would never doubt you, but this seems a foolish path to take at best. You are more aware of this man's crimes than any other. You have watched him from afar. You know the nature that he possesses, that he does not even attempt to hide."

"Yes, and I also know he is going to be needed," Clockwork replied. "Danny Phantom is going to face difficult obstacles, and many of them are going to shake him. He'll need someone who'll be able to help him along the road."

"Help him? Uncle I do not understand. How will unleashing such a person help?"

Clockwork said nothing, and only untwisted the cap and let it drop to the floor with a clatter. Things were ominously still for a moment before a force suddenly shot violently out of the contraption in an explosion of red light. Opal and Clockwork looked up to see Dan Phantom floating in the air, laughing triumphantly.

"Free!" he shouted. "After all this time in that damn thing, I am finally free!"

He looked down at Clockwork and grinned maliciously. It was going to be sweet justice to tear this ghost to shreds, and the shocked looking girl would be fun to torture too. Swooping down suddenly, his eyes widened a little Clockwork only sighed and raised his staff.

"Time Out," he said almost lazily and pressed the button on his staff. He looked at Dan, whose fist was a mere inch from his face. He'd known the ghost would have tried that, still he supposed it would have been nice to be disappointed.

"Well Uncle, I am not too proud a woman to admit that I was mistaken on this issue. He seems most cooperative," Opal replied sarcastically, her arms crossed.

"Hush," he reprimanded her before turning her attention back to Dan. "I'm going to ask you to listen, and I hope you have the common sense to. I haven't released you from this Thermos as an act of faith, Phantom. The only reason I have kept you around this long is because I knew eventually I was going to need you. You have been defeated by Danny Phantom, and he will never become you, wiping away your future away from the slate completely. It should be that you never existed at all, and it is only through my effort that you aren't fading away as we speak. I'm going to give you two options. You can do what I ask, or I can banish you within an instant."

Stepping out of the way, he pulled Opal along with him, just to make sure Dan didn't try to do something stupid to her out of spite.

"Time In."

Dan went forward a few feet before screeching to a stop and whirled around to face them. He glared at Clockwork, not at all happy with how quickly he'd been subdued with a simple press of a button. And his 'offer' was hardly intriguing. Death, or slavery to this asshole. Dan Phantom was a prideful man, and he didn't think working for Clockwork would be much better than never existing.

"I hardly think it's a good offer," he growled out. "What do I get out of it if I help, aside from your promise that you wont just get rid of me?"

"How about your freedom?" Clockwork asked.

"Uncle?" Opal asked, more than a little surprised.

"That's a bit better," Dan grinned. "Care to elaborate?"

"I need you to help Danny on a little task he's going to need to accomplish. If you can behave yourself and do your part, you'll be allowed to go wherever you wish. I won't allow you to do anything destructive however when you are free, or I'll have to… well I hate to repeat the same threat more than once."

Dan thought about it. Freedom. It was pretty tempting, but the inability to do anything fun hardly made it seem worth it. Not to mention, there was no real way that Clockwork could prove his honesty. It would be just like him to forget his deal afterwards.

"Forget it," he said eventually. "Just stick me back in the Thermos."

It's not like he'd never be able to figure a way out of the damn thing, and when he did he could always take off and find Danny to torture for a while. He'd just look at this as a little time to stretch his legs.

"Who said you were going back into the Thermos?" Clockwork asked and raised his staff. "Don't say I didn't make the offer. Good bye Daniel."

"Wait!" Dan shouted, feeling a touch of panic in his chest. Clockwork raised an eyebrow in question, even though Dan had a feeling he already knew what he was about to say, the little smart ass.

"Fine. What d'you want from me?" he bit out, his arms crossed in the little bit of defiance he could show.

"I'll leave Opal to explain it. I need to pick up Danny."

"Uncle, do not leave!" Opal cried in surprise but the ghost was already gone. She blew a bit of hair out of her face and looked to Dan. "I suppose he has left me all but choiceless. Very well. You need to be informed as much as anyone else does."

Dan glared at her. This chick was beyond annoying, and what the hell did Clockwork think he was doing, leaving him around to be babysat?

"You don't seem worried," he snarled.

"My uncle is omnipotent. I doubt he would have left me alone in your presence if had believed for even a moment you would have done me harm. And further more," she said as she held up one of her ringed hand, "I have means of my own to defend myself."

At any other time, he would have considered that a personal challenge, but he knew just as well as she did that she was right. He tried anything, Clockwork would screw him over in an instant.

He was starting to hate this deal already.

#---------#

"Look," Danny said, "I don't know what a kind of 'persuasion' you supposedly gave him Clockwork, but I can't go along with it. I mean, did you really expect I was going to be okay with this?"

"No," Clockwork replied honestly. "I knew you would never except this with open arms, but the fact is that what we are going to face is much bigger than anything either of you have ever dealt with on your own. Dan Phantom is like you, unable to be controlled because his world has been closed. He wont do anything wrong under anyone else's influence-"

"Yeah, 'cause that's what we're worried about," Tuckered whispered sarcastically to Sam.

"But," Clockwork continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "He has agreed to help, and you will need it, in more ways than one. I can understand you not trusting him yet, but can you at least trust me?"

"I…" Danny sighed and shook his head. He could feel his conviction wavering. His future self was a horrible nightmare to Danny, but he did trust Clockwork. The ghost had a bad habit of speaking in riddles and Danny sometimes found him a tad annoying, but he had never steered him wrong. He knew Clockwork wouldn't have done this if it weren't needed.

And from everything he'd been told, whoever they were facing was probably a lot more dangerous than Dan. He could see his family becoming slaves to use against him, his town becoming a mere plaything, his whole world getting so twisted he couldn't even recognize it anymore. As much as he hated it, if working with the thing that scared him most could keep that from happening, than he was willing to do just about anything.

"Okay," he said and nodded his head. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Danny," Sam said. "Are you sure?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice Sam," he said before glaring at Dan. "But I'm warning you, I beat you once. Don't think I can't do it again. If you ever try to hurt any of my friends or family again, you'll regret it."

"Please, I have other things to do besides torture you're little ragtag group," Dan snorted.

Danny was about to yell something back at him before Dani suddenly slipped under his arm and flew up to inspect a slightly surprised looking Dan.

"Dani! What are you doing?" Danny said shocked. "Get away from him!"

"What do you want, pipsqueak?" Dan growled at her.

She frowned at him and landed back on her feet to look at Danny.

"Want my suggestion, don't go for a cape… ever. It makes you look fat," she said simply, causing the three teens to snicker suddenly.

"Little brat!" Dan snarled and almost made to blast her on instinct, but a hand clapped on his shoulder before he could even charge up the energy.

"As much as this is getting entertaining, we have a schedule to keep," Clockwork said, catching everyone's attention.

Danny nodded and turned to his cousin.

"Clockwork, I want you to take Dani home for me, okay?"

"Danny!" the girl cried out. "I told you, I'm-"

"Danielle, just do it please," Danny said and put a hand on top of her head. "Look, Mom, Dad, and Jazz are going to need to know somethings up, and I want you somewhere where it's safe." He glared at Dan, who mockingly smiled back at him. "Especially now. Besides, do you really think it's a good idea for us both to be missing for however long this is going to take? Mom and Jazz would flip, and you know Dad would start shooting up the neighborhood looking for the ghost that 'kidnapped' us."

"Don't you think they'd have the same reaction if I told them the truth?" Dani said.

"Yeah, I could see your dad gearing up for war faster than we hit World of Warcraft, man," Tucker agreed.

"Guess you're right," Danny said. "They have enough trouble with us handling the everyday ghosts. Look, just tell them I'm handling something for Clockwork, and that I'll be back as soon as possible. I'll stay in contact, I promise. And besides, what if a ghost shows up while I'm gone? Someone needs to hold down the fort, and I'll need Tucker and Sam here with me."

"This isn't fair," she sulked and crossed her arms. "You better make it up to me later."

"No problem," he said and bent down to give her a hug. "I love you, don't forget that. Now go on home."

He thought he heard a snort from behind him, but he refused to acknowledge it.

"I'll take her back," Clockwork promised and opened up a portal for himself and the younger Fenton. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he guided her into it after she cast one last look at Danny.

Opal watched the two go and sighed softly.

"He is acting rash. I have never known him to be like this," she murmured to herself. "But if he insists upon this course…"

She looked to the group remaining and coughed lightly to get their attention.

"With my uncle gone, I only suppose it is only right that I explain everything. Even as sure as I am that the thief will return here, it is clear that we could not simply wait for a second attempt at a raid on the Library. I was caught by surprise the last encounter, but the next I imagine our friend will have the help of many new slaves to his of her will. We cannot simply stand by at let this occur, giving the enemy as much time as he would be pleased with to plan out the next strike. No, this problem must be nipped in the bud."

"So, what is the plan?" Sam asked. "Going after the creep would be a wonderful idea. Do you have anyway to track him down?"

"What we need to do is locate the information of any missing texts. If we knew what worlds were being manipulated, finding the culprit would be a much easier task to bear. We could possibly stop him before his talons are too deeply dug into his targets."

"Well, I don't think that'll be too hard to pull off," Tucker said suddenly and pulled out his PDA. "If you have some kind of list of all the books, I can load it up on this baby and have it help us narrow down the list. Be a whole lot faster than checking manually. Heck, with the size of this place, that'd only take, what… a few eons? You've got a computer or something?"

"Well, there is only kept for the sake of records," Opal said slowly. Technology was not one of her friends, though Scrinium was essentially a representation of order. It'd be out of line for him not to want one of them. In fact, she had a feeling she'd seen one of those curious little boxes that the boy had in her father's room before. "It should be down a ways south from this spot. Down that direction, past the fourth set of shelves… take a right and it should be to your… right? No, no. That is not correct, I believe it was the left… yes, to your left."

"Right, we'll just jack in and get this done in no time. Come on Sam," he said and started heading quickly the way Opal had pointed.

"How did you get that idea so quickly?" Sam asked as she followed after him briskly. "I didn't even think a place like this would have a computer."

"Well, it was when I was working at the Amity Park Library. Remember when we had to do that charity work? I got stuck at the library, and well… why work hard when you can work smart? "

Sam made a face. She remembered. It was just last month when the lousy creep Skulker had shown up, intent on grabbing Danny yet again. All he'd accomplished was a lot of property damage and leaving Danny, she, Tucker, and Dani in the middle of the mess. 'Mayor Masters' had been all too happy to say while Danny had been trying to save the city, he and the others still had to be held responsible.

"After all, isn't that what good citizenship is all about?" he'd said.

It had made her want to throw up, especially since being held accountable was twenty-four hours of charity. She wouldn't have minded, except she had a sneaking suspicion he'd sent Skulker on purpose. The sleaze ball was getting more and more petty by the day. Still, she had to grin when she realized Vlad's plan to mess with them had probably saved them a lot of time in a round about way.

As they left, Opal turned back to the two halfas. This was probably going to be the difficult part.

"If you two could follow me," she requested and moved past them. She made her way into one of the aisles and inspected the shelves, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Danny asked.

"With the forces that will soon be at our enemy's disposal, all the help we can gather is best to take into consideration. I happen to know of someone who I think could be of use in this situation. I have recently been reading the story of her world. She is quite powerful, and the perfect type of fighter to go against large numbers."

Plucking a medium sized book from a shelf near her head, she held the green bound book close to her chest and began walking again. They followed her curiously to a large steel door, almost fifteen feet in height and an oval instead of a traditional rectangle. Producing a key ring full of skeleton keys from out of the folds of her skirt, she selected one and slid it into the door before turning it. Loud gears sounded for a few seconds before the door swung open slowly and revealed a room that when Danny looked into, couldn't understand why it was locked up.

It wasn't much really. Mostly empty, except for two things that didn't even really seem to go together. One was just a simple wooden podium, like the ones the teachers would stand behind at school while they taught, and the other was nothing more than a door frame made of stone that jutted out slightly from the wall. Danny guessed it must have lead to another room before it had been filled in.

Opal made no attempt to explain herself as she moved to the podium in the middle of the room and set the book on it. Opening the green novel, she flipped though several pages, her lips moving silently as she read to herself.

"This should prove to be adequate," she said and raised her left hand to the wall. The small silver ring on her forefinger began to glow a soft green and suddenly there was a ripple in the wall where the doorway was.

Wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere, a quick but sudden blast that blew at Danny's hair and ruffled the pages of the book. He watched as a portal opened in the doorway and Opal looked to them.

"Your ally will be waiting within. I doubt you have difficulties locating her. I will keep the portal open until you have returned," she informed them. "Please be swift."

"Yeah, yeah," Dan said as he quickly stepped through it, not even bothering to look where it would lead first. He was not exactly what one would call cautious.

Danny moved to go too, but Opal laid a hand on his arm before he could.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" he asked her.

"Please understand, I have been acquainted with my uncle for a long time. I have never doubted him before, yet I worry about his recent decisions cornering that man. When he first told me of his plan to enlist his aid, I grew worried. In his current state, there is no guarantee that he could prevent Phantom from any evil acts before it happened. Without his sight of the future, he cannot make completely sound decisions. That is why when he left to retrieve the Thermos I immediately went to this world, to plead for her aid. She is powerful, and I believe if he betrays us, she will be able to hold him, at least for long enough that my uncle can rectify his mistake."

"She's that powerful?" Danny asked. "Who is she?"

Opal bit her bottom lip and chewed on it nervously.

"I believe it best not to say presently. You will see soon enough with your own eyes." She laid her hands on his shoulders and peered him closely in the eyes. "Just know, she is your ally. She would help you, and you must trust her to. I only say this, respect her world, and remember it is not your own. She does not desire your protection."

Danny looked at her, tying to piece together what she meant. Before he could say anything though, she ushered him into the portal, gently pushing him into it.

Stumbling a little from the slight push and suddenly in another world, Danny Phantom looked up at the scene before him and then back to Dan. He was actually a little surprised to see the older version of himself looked just as shocked as he felt. Danny did not need to be told what universe this was, what had happened to make this place. Vines wrapped around every building and deep cracks in the street produced a variety of flowers and plants. There was more green here than any other color, and in the midst of it, a a bud of a red rose was held up on top of a stem that was the size of a great oak.

"Danny," a soft voice echoed as the bud slowly bloomed, revealing a tall and slim black haired woman. Her hair was shiny, yet had an untamed and wild look to it, flowing past her waist and blowing softly in the faint wind. Her eyes had a faint green glow to them, and her body was clothed in a black corseted dress with long, tattered tails of velvet falling behind her bare legs. Black tribal markings were on her face, arms and even legs as vines slithered around and on her like snakes. To Danny, it was incredibly beautiful and horrifying at the same time.

"Sam…" he said softly. He made to move to her but vines suddenly wrapped around him, keeping him from being able to move. He struggled, but they only tightened their grip on him.

"I do not want my garden, my Eden, to be disturbed," she said as plants formed under her bare feet and took her down from the flower and to the two males. She looked at both of them and placed her chin in her hand. "I only agreed to this visit on the terms that you would not try to 'save' me. Undergrowth is long gone, a weak willed ghost who only desired to rule this world for his own gain. I overthrew him long ago, and I control my own thoughts and actions."

"But Sam…"

She ignored his struggling and looked to Dan, her head cocking slowly to the side. He had made no attempt to move, and was unbound, but he still looked faintly surprised.

"I… know you," she said softly. "I remember facing you, saving Danny from becoming you. You were like I, awakened to the fact that saving humanity was just a shackle."

"You could say that," he grumbled a little. "Not quite what I would decorate with though. And you don't seemed shocked to see us."

"I was told of the… situation," she replied, her voice still soft. Her whole manner was of one who was hypnotized, yet she smiled. "There are worlds out there, worlds that can not be contemplated. Worlds where I lost this battle, worlds where you have died so many different ways, worlds where you have triumphed and have become loved by all around you, and even worlds where we are all normal, and have no idea of what could have become of us."

She began to sit, and there was immediately a bush sprouting up for her to rest on.

"I have been told that you need my assistance," she continued and looked to Danny. "That my heart has been looked into, and I still would be willing help you, my love. Tell me, do you know of my love in your world?" She leaned forward slightly and cupped his cheek. "Was I allowed to touch you like this before?"

Danny squirmed a little, kind of freaked out by the obvious flirting.

"A little help would be nice," he shot to his older self.

"Grow up kid," he said with a chuckle. "Trust me, in a few ears, you'll love having a girl paw at you like that."

Samantha smiled and softly kissed the boys forehead.

"I can see the answer in your eyes," she whispered softly. "However, I see no reason to help for your sake. I worry for my garden. If I take no action, I may not be noticed. I may not be attacked."

"So you'll hide?" Dan growled out.

"I said no such thing," she replied, and her voice suddenly had an edge to it, her eyes slit in anger. She then sighed and smiled again. "If I take no action, I may still be attacked. Precautions must be made, and I will exchange my services for the means to protect my kingdom from an invasion. I will help you, but only at the price of knowing my garden will be safe. You," she pointed at the young Danny, "are my price. I will have you, to be mine, here."

He blushed.

"What, to… love me?" he said with a little squeak. Even at fifteen, he knew what a woman with a body like that probably meant.

She scoffed and waved her hand a little, as if to dismiss the thoughts in his head.

"Do not be foolish little Phantom. You're a boy. And I would not steal you from your Sam. That wouldn't pleasant at all. No, I want some of your essence. I will plant it, and make copies, many copies. They will be more matured than your body, though sadly, not as powerful one-on-one. They will be mine, my army to keep my world safe in my absence, and to…" She smiled coyly. "To entertain me when I return."

Danny blushed. That was one weird image. This chick was a little crazy in his opinion. But still, it was Sam… He hung his head.

"All right," he said.

"Excellent," she said and leaned back to pluck a white rose from behind her. Danny swallowed and stared at the way it looked to have her sprawled out, her back arched just enough to have her chest thrust up slightly. He heard a little wolf whistle from Dan and glared at him.

"Hey, that's our friend," he scolded.

"Kid, that lady don't want to be just your friend," Dan replied with a grin.

Danny would have shot a reply back at him, but suddenly Samantha was cupping his face again, her grip a little firmer this time.

"Don't move," she instructed him. "This will hurt."

She placed the rose against his cheek and suddenly dragged one of the thorns over his skin sharply. He gave a startled cry, the pain more than what it should have been from a little scratch. His whole head felt as if it were on fire, and only her hand forcibly holding his chin in place kept from writhing in the pain.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. "It'll feel better soon."

She let a trickle of his blood fall from the cut and onto the rose, the blood quickly staining the white petal it had landed on. Handing it to a waiting vine, she embraced the boy as the flower was pulled down and covered by the other plants.

"Thank you," she said. "I have missed you for so long. Killing you… even for my Eden, almost killed me." She slowly licked at his cut cheek, and the burning in his scalp slowly started to dissolve, leaving him a little woozy, but no longer in pain. His eyes slowly shut and his head fell forward onto Samantha's silky shoulder before passing out.

"I don't suppose you have any of that foreplay for me," Dan asked with a smirk, letting her know he was kidding, mostly.

"You would be too hard to tame," she answered as she let the boy go and crossed her arms daintily. "I can tell just from looking at you. The clones wouldn't be easy to handle so soon for my departure, and I would never risk suffering upon my world. A boy, who feels guilt over being unable to stop this fate of mine, even if he did in his own reality, will be quicker to submit to me."

"So that's all you wanted. Make him feel guilty so you can have your little army," he replied. "Tch, women."

"I want love," she replied honestly. "He loves me, and he thinks for some reason he needed to save me. He does not see how things are peaceful now, how I reign on a planet that is free of war and suffering, everything he has always known me to hate. I could never make him see. I simply ask for some company. It gets lonely like this, but I bet you already knew that, don't you… Danny?"

They looked at each other and for a second Dan felt something… strange. Almost awkward. He looked away angrily. He was better than emotions like this, dammit! What they hell did he care about Sam, the girl had once considered his friend, even his…

"Grab the kid," he growled and made his way to the portal.

End of Chapter Two

Heh, I just had to add the Urban Jungle version of Sam. It was beyond wicked how the episode played out, and I couldn't help but wonder, how would she have turned out if she'd won? Like Dan? Well maybe close, but probably not exactly the same.

Actually… between her, Danny, and even Jack and Tucker, they did quite a few good character gone bad situations in the show. Must have been a theme.

Also, someone asked me is a PM why Opal could live in the Ghost Zone. She's really no different than any other human, and no she is not a halfa or anything like that. Actually, all of her abilities come from her jewelry, which are types of amulets. You'll see what they all do as the story progresses, but one of them does keep her from aging which is why she's been around for so long. Aside from that, she's no more gifted than say Sam or Tucker, she's just got items to back her up.

Anyway, that's the second chapter. Expect the third next week on Saturday. Please review and I'll really appreciate it.


	3. Keep it Safe

Third chapter up, and it's not even Saturday yet. I know what I said about once a week, but right now I'm on break from college for a week, and nothing to really do except write. Yeah, I should probably do the smart thing and stock up that way I can get ahead of my self-appointed schedule, but I don't feel like doing that to you guys. I can only hope I don't end up spoiling you all.

Since there are a few double characters in this, I am clarifying this so it won't confuse anyone. Urban Jungle Sam is going to be called Samantha by everyone, for the possible exception of Dan (just like she's calling Dan Danny). I'm going to keep it obviously straight so no one gets a 'Who the hell is talking?' reaction. I had wanted to slip in an alternate Dani, but it just seemed like too much effort, and no real reason for it. I don't want to put in so many alternate characters that the originals get overshadowed. That's just pointless. Besides, it seemed to me that UJ Sam would much rather go by Samantha, being older and obviously more mature in a lot of matters. (And get your mind out of the gutter. ^_^)

I still don't own Danny Phantom. I think the day that happens is the day Vlad owns the Packers. Suffice to say, I don't think it's happening any time soon.

On an interesting side note, I think it should be said I'm from Chicago so I love the Bears and FSCKING HATE THE PACKERS! Yet… I still love Vlad to bits. I don't know why. I'm starting to think I have a thing for guys with blue skin.

Aw come on, Plasmius is sexy. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just denying the blue smexy potential that deserves to take over the world. Embrace the blue, you'll be happier.

Chapter Three: Keep it Safe

Dani would never deny the fact that she owned Danny a lot. He had always been a good person to her, even when they had been on opposing sides. Looking out for her, even when she had hated him, had always been more important to him than she thought she deserved. He'd saved her from Vlad's influence, kept her from dematerializing into ectoplasm goo, and was even the one who technically gave her life through his DNA, albeit unknowingly.

It was ironic to her that he had been a better parental figure to him than her 'father' had ever been.

Danny had even given her a home, a place to live and a family to love her.

She remembered when she'd heard about the whole affair when Danny's secret had been found out. She'd gotten to him as quickly as possible, not sure if she could help, but determined to do so in any way she could. She hadn't intended to be seen by Aunt Maddie and suddenly having her and Uncle Jack freaking out about the ghost that looked exactly like Danny sneaking into their boy's bedroom through the window. It had just kind of happened.

Danny had been quick to calm his parents down. It had taken hours explaining where she'd come from, that she was a clone that had been used to lure Danny in a trap, and how despite everything, the two had become friends and now considered each other family. She'd noted he'd skimmed over the details of it was Vlad that had done all those things. She didn't really understand why he'd insisted on keeping the jerk's secret, but had gone along with it. After all, Uncle Jack still considered him a friend, and she could only guess for some reason Danny was hesitant to break that for some reason.

There had been a stilled silence as the whole family had heard the explanation. Even Jazz hadn't really known what to say since Danny had never told her about the cloning fiasco. Danni knew that Maddie and Jack still had to be getting over the shock of their own son being THE Danny Phantom that they had hunted without needing to find out that he had a clone running around. She had quickly offered to leave, not wanting to cause Danny problems.

Everyone had been surprised however when Jack had suddenly stood up and informed her she was doing no such thing. She'd half expected him to shove her in a Fenton Thermos before he immediately started prattling off how they were going to need to enroll her into school and set up a bedroom for her.

Apparently she wasn't going to be captured, but that didn't mean she was going to be able to leave either. No, she was a member of the family, and she didn't have a say in the matter.

It had been awkward at first. Explaining a cousin that no one had ever heard about suddenly showing up to live with the Fentons hadn't been easy, and Dani had never been in school a day of her life, so her grades were something she had to work hard on to keep from failing miserably. The Fentons didn't want to give out her secret, knowing what kind of trouble could have come from it. The Guys in White would have been too eager to demand her since she was only a clone, saying her rights didn't matter since she wasn't a real person. The family never would have given her up but it was just easier to keep silent about it. But despite all the problems it sometimes caused, the extra child to care for, to worry about when she ran off to save the day, the Fentons had loved her like their own.

She never would have had that, wouldn't have had anything if it hadn't been for Danny. She owned her cousin so much, and loved him with her whole heart.

Which is why Dani had agreed to come back home at his request, but that hardly meant she was happy about it. The instant she was back in the living room of the Fenton's and she was powered down, she immediately crossed her arms and began to sulk.

"You aren't exactly taking this well," Clockwork noted.

"How am I suppose to take it?" she snapped at him. "Danny is going to be out there risking his neck and I have to sit here like a good little girl and just accept it? I'm worried about him and he just tells me to go home."

"Because he worries about you," Clockwork noted.

"Not helping," she told him.

"Well, then maybe this will," he stated. "This is hardly a one front war. You are going to be needed here to help him, more than you could at his side… for the moment that is."

She looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"There is more than just getting the Quill back," he answered. "Do you think once the thief knows about Danny going after him, this world will just be left alone? He would attempt to get the book to this world at any costs, so he could to use it as a hostage situation. A 'Let me take over everything, and you're world will be safe from conquest' sort of situation. Danny is a good hero, but naive. I have seen him fall from his code of honor before."

"You're talking about Dark Danny, aren't you?" Dani asked.

"Amongst others. He's failed in other worlds, died for it, but Dan Phantom is definitely the worst possible outcome for him."

"He's… not what I expected," Dani admitted. "Whenever Danny talked about him, I always got chills from what he did. He still seems like a bad guy, but… I still saw a bit of regular ol' Danny in him. I didn't think that would happen."

"He still is Danny, in a very twisted way. He's far from redemption, or even wanting redemption, but we're not talking about him. I have a task for you as well. Something very important I need you to do."

Dani looked up at him and uncrossed her arms. She was officially curious now.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"This world becoming bargaining chip can't happen. The book needs to be protected, and suddenly the library does not seem at all safe. That is why," he slipped a dark orange book from beneath his cloak and held it out in front of a shocked looking Dani, "I stole it."

"You stole the book?" Dani cried, glad that the Fentons were gone and Jazz was off studying at the library for the day, so no one would hear her outburst. She felt both shocked and a tad impressed.

"The first place the enemy is going to look to find it is in the Library. Why make it easy for him if the situation comes up? I need you to do something very important. I need you to guard it, and make sure no one ever come across it or finds out what it is."

She felt a little surprised when the book was gently pushed into her hands and she looked down at it before back at him.

"Me?" she asked. "I mean, why don't you keep it at your place?"

Clockwork looked at her levelly and she chuckled.

"Right, guess that would be pretty obvious," she said and shrugged. "Okay, I want to help Danny. I'll look after this thing."

Clockwork smiled.

"Good. In your hands, I'm sure it will be kept safe. Just do your best to keep it secret."

She nodded and watched him turn away from her, getting ready to leave.

"Hey," she said quickly.

"Hmm?" he asked and looked over his shoulder at her. "What is it?"

"Just… out of curiosity, why have me do this?" she asked. "Is it just to make sure I won't go after Danny or something?"

He turned back to her and sighed. She imagined he might have been a little irritated with her, but she didn't care. She just wanted to know.

"I have seen your future Dani," he answered. "I've seen what you will become, how you are going to help Danny, and how you are going to help this world. Despite being fooled in the earlier parts of your life, you are a good person and completely devoted to Danny. So in short, I'm doing this because I trust you."

Dani blushed a little at the blatant praise, liking it. Vlad had never said anything like that to her, and meaning it of course. She'd heard it from her family, but she knew a part of that was just what family was about. To hear it from someone who didn't feel like he had to say it, who really meant it and just wanted her to hear it, it was… cool.

"I won't let you down," she said and smiled at him broadly. "But… do you think this could change our futures. You can't, well… see it right now but what do you think is gonna happen? Do you think everything is going to be okay?"

He sighed again and rubbed a little at his forehead.

"I don't honestly know," he replied. "I have been knowledgeable of the future, the past, present… everything for my entire existence. To be without that is more unsettling than I thought it would be."

"Sounds like you kinda took it for granted," Dani mused.

"Perhaps," he murmured. "In any case, protect the book. It's the best way you can help Danny right now, aside from taking care of any stray ghost that wanders in so he can concentrate on his current task."

She tucked the book under one arm and gave him a mock salute.

"Aye aye," she said, a silly grin on her face.

He chuckled back at her and she was a bit surprised when he ruffled her hair slightly. She smiled up at him, finding herself comfortable with the attention.

"Good luck, and take care of my cousin, okay?" she requested.

He only nodded and she watched him disappear into a portal. Once he was gone, she looked down at the book he had given her.

It was a little weird, to have been given this thing. She couldn't deny she wasn't tempted to peek into it, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that would be a bad idea. No, wouldn't it be just be better to hide it?

She wondered where it would be a good place to stash such a thing. The idea of the lab occurred to her, but she decided against it almost immediately. It would be a huge disaster if an accident happened in there and it caught on fire or was covered in ectoplasm gunk or something. She imagined Clockwork's reaction to that, and the images made her shiver. She hadn't thought of anything good.

So, since the lab was out, she guessed she only had her room to hide it in. It wouldn't be a good idea to place it somewhere out of the house, and there was no way she was going to carry it around with her everywhere. She could just imagine one of her middle school teachers seeing her with it.

Blegh.

Transforming out of her ghost form, she went upstairs to her room and slipped inside, looking for a good hiding place. She would have put it under her mattress, but the last time Danny had come across her diary had proven to her that was not a good hiding place for anything. She still remembered him teasing her for it, which had promptly turned into a fight breaking the very important 'No Ghost Powers in the House' rule. They'd both been grounded for a month afterwards.

After a few minutes of looking around, she eventually decided on her closet. The house was actually full of places to stash things, and her room had once been a storage area for the extra weapons and inventions. There was a small compartment in the bottom of her closet that the family knew about, but no one else did.

Opening the door, she pulled a few things out of the way and opened the small latch. Clearing a few things like her piggy bank and that revolting pair of mittens Uncle Jack had given her for Christmas out of the compartment, she put the book in the bottom and covered it up with her own stuff. After making sure it was locked properly, she slid the few boxes of her things she didn't often use back over the latch and smiled.

There was no way anyone was going to think the book that had the history of the whole world was hidden in a thirteen-year-old girl's closet.

"Now that that's out of the way," she said to herself, "all I need to do is figure out how I'm going to tell everyone about this."

It's not like the family discouraged Danny or her from ghost hunting. After all, Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack were happy about their son following in their career footsteps, and Jazz was always there to help out with Sam and Tucker. But… well she knew parents worried. There were situations that they just couldn't deal with as mortals, situations that Danny and she needed to take care of. Just because they were allowed to run off and save the day all the time, didn't mean it was easy for the two adults to deal with. Dani still remembered the first time Aunt Maddie had nearly squeezed the life out of her the first time she'd come back from a fight, just so happy she was back safe.

It had made her feel so wanted, and she always hugged her aunt to her as hard as she could whenever she came back. After all, that's what family did.

Dani didn't relish in the thought of not telling them the whole truth. But Danny was right. They'd react badly, freak out, and shoot everything extraterrestrial in sight. She sometimes found it a little ironic that despite their experience, they really were kinda… bad at it. Well, maybe Uncle Jack more than Aunt Maddie, but she did kind of have a habit of going along with whatever he said. She guessed it was a being married thing or something.

No, it would be better to play the situation down. She could just tell them that he was doing a few things for Clockwork, just like he had asked her to. It wasn't lying, not really. It was just telling them enough so they wouldn't worry, and not too much to… well, make sure they wouldn't worry.

She sighed and sat down on the bed with a flump. With the book hidden, she didn't have much to really do. No one would be back for a while, and unless a ghost randomly showed up and decided to terrorize the town, waiting around was going to be her only option.

"Hurry back Danny," she mumbled softly, suddenly understanding how her aunt and uncle felt.

#---------#

When Danny groaned and opened his eyes slowly, he sort of wished he hadn't. His head was spinning a little while a soft thudding was pounding in his head, and he felt like he'd been hit several times all over his body. It was the same kind of the feeling he got when he stayed in his soft bed so long he started to actually get sore. But at least his head was on something soft, and he sighed, a little content with that.

"Are you okay Danny?"

The young phantom suddenly realized that Sam's face was above his, and that the comfortable 'pillow' his head was resting on was her lap. Blushing, he made to move but she pushed him back down before he got far.

"Stay still," she ordered him, though her cheeks were tad pink as well. "She said the chemicals in that rose had a soft poisoning affect. It doesn't do much more than work as a sedative, so you should be fine pretty soon."

"She?" Danny asked before the memories floated back to him. "Oh… right."

"Was I really like that?" Sam asked him, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

"Well, maybe a bit more violent," he said with a chuckle. "But you're cuter."

She blushed.

"You're just saying that," she replied, looking away.

"No, I mean it, really," he argued. He'd admit to himself that Samantha was pretty sexy, but it had honestly scared him more than anything like that. Yeah, he thought about sex at his age, but he was nowhere near close to be comfortable enough with himself to think about doing anything about it. The plant Samantha just was a bit too mature for him to really be attracted to. He'd rather have the girl his own age that was just as unsure about the whole thing as he was.

Yeah, they both had a lot to learn, but he wanted to learn it along with her.

He was glad he hadn't said _that_ out loud. She probably would have hit him for being perverted or something.

Still, she was smiling down at him, and he couldn't help but smile up at her goofily. Her lap really did feel pretty nice, and the faint waif of perfume hitting his nose was pretty good too. Heck, even her gothic make-up up close looked more pretty than usual. Especially her lips, which he noticed were getting closer. Closing his eyes, he leaned in to kiss her before a sudden cough caused them both to freeze.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Danny jolted up from the sudden interruption, feeling like a bucket of ice water had just been thrown on him. He sat up quickly and glared lightly at Tucker for bothering them, who only snickered.

"Sorry guys," he apologized. "I just thought I should tell you the search is almost done. We got it narrowed down to the last few dozen or so books we're checking for."

"Are there any missing yet?" Danny asked.

Tucker shook his head, but didn't look happy about his answer.

"Not really, but the thing is, Opal isn't very happy. Apparently the section that she'd searching through right now is the… well the bad ones. Like Dan Phantom bad."

Danny frowned. If any of those books were gone it wouldn't be good news.

"So what do we do if any of them are missing?" he asked.

"Opal said that whoever stole the quill would probably be in the world that he or she is changing," Sam answered. "I guess to make sure what was written had the right effects and everything. That and if you're going to set yourself up as their ruler, you may as well be there to order them around. We find the books that are missing and go there. Hopefully there's only one book that's gone."

"Hopefully there all in place," Tucker corrected.

"No, because then we wouldn't know where to find him," Sam argued.

"But that would mean he would have to come back."

"It wouldn't make any sense for him to steal the Quill and no book to change."

"Guys," Danny said, "let's just get to Opal and see what's going on. We have to find out what we have to do, and we need to do it soon."

For some reason, Danny wasn't surprised to see the group in the almost the back of the Library. Tucker quickly explained the demographic of the place, the newer realties being close to the door to the realm and steadily made it's way to the back depending either on age, or how prosperous or bad the world was. The only ones behind the doomed worlds were the ones that had already ended, and Danny guessed the organization only made sense. It was a library after all so staying organized would be important. And it wasn't like there was any way to put them in alphabetical order or anything.

He saw the others waiting for them, and he had to stop at how weird the whole thing looked. Dan Phantom was leaning against a shelf, arms crossed and scowling in everyone's general direction, Clockwork was just floating around with his staff rested on one of his shoulders, going periodically from kid to adult, to geezer and then back to kid again, Samantha had actually gotten a potted plant from somewhere and was gently prodding at the dirt with her fingers while the plant writhed around slightly, and Opal was teetering on a large step ladder and running her fingers over books while she mumbled to herself.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is even a little bit freaky?" he whispered to his friends.

"Are you kidding?" Tucker replied. "Man, if there is an evil version of me floating around, I say we ditch the idea of picking him up too."

"Agreed," Sam said. "You probably would have been taken over by Technus or something."

Tucker shuddered.

"Okay, not a cool thought," he muttered.

"Are you almost done?" Dan suddenly snapped up at Opal. "This is taking for-fucking-ever! The sooner I can kick the ass of whoever put me in this crappy situation in the first place, the sooner I can get away from you morons."

"Honestly Danny, I know you've always been impatient, but you need to calm down. Being rash won't help. And stop cussing," Samantha added as an afterthought, causing Dan to glare at her.

"Yeah, this _is_ too weird," Sam agreed.

Opal ignored all the commentary below her and just continued to check the books. Even with so few, it was such slow going. So far they were all in place, but she was finding herself getting more and more nervous anyway.

She paused when she suddenly went to reach for the next book and paused when she felt nothing under her fingers. Looking up from the list she'd been reading over, she saw there was in fact a thin empty space where a book should have been in place. She looked back down at the list and swallowed.

"This is far from a good thing," she whispered to herself. "Uncle!"

"What is it?" he asked and floated up to her. "You found one missing?"

She nodded and sighed.

"I am afraid I have indeed," she answered and sighed again. "I should have realized he would have sought these books first."

"Hey," Tucker called up to them. "What's up? Which one's missing?"

"Well it's more subtle than I would have thought," Clockwork said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Subtle?" she repeated back at him. "Uncle, I wish you would not attempt to be humorous in this situation. This is anything but subtle."

"You know, you're right," he replied. "This is almost cliché."

"Hello?" Danny asked and flew up to them. "Waiting to save the world here. What's up?"

Clockwork rubbed at his temples. Well, it was a fairly obvious world to want to grab, but it didn't change the situation at all.

"We know where you have to go," he told Danny.

"Suffice to say, it is not a pleasant place to be," Opal told him.

"Well, we weren't exact expecting a land full of ponies and bunnies," Danny said with a shrug. "I'm sure we can handle it."

Clockwork smirked, knowing he would have received such an answer from the boy hero.

"Good," he said.

End of Chapter Three

Well, this is a tad short, but it was a convenient stopping point. Anything past that would have been a full chapter added on to this, or would have resulted in a very massive and annoying cliffhanger. I know there wasn't much action in it, but we'll be getting into the swing of things next chapter, which if I keep writing at the pace I am, will be up pretty soon.

I think this is the first time I've screwed up my writing schedule by going too fast. lol

Anyway, reviews are good. All opinions are nice to hear, it lets me know whether or not I'm doing a good job.


	4. The Wicked Will be Punished Through Evil

Well, after three chapters of build up, we are finally getting a little bit of action. Woo hoo! I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm a firm believer in plot build up and I've been updating so fast, I doubt I'm even really giving people time to digest the last chapter before the next one is popped out.

Vlad Masters does not own the Packers. If you do not know why I bring that up, please refer to the author note at the beginning of the last chapter. I think that will clear things up.

A bit of a warning: I'm sure everyone has noticed how this is rated M. This is not only for the adult scenes between Dan and Clock that will eventually be happening (yippy!) but also… well for chapters like this. This chapter is not going to be pleasant, as is the point. I'm keeping it in the realm of what would (probably) be appropriate of the show, but a few scenes may or may not give you a 'What the hell is wrong with this woman?' reaction.

You have been warned, now welcome to my nightmare.

Chapter Four: The Wicked Will be Punished Through Evil

"Uncle."

Clockwork looked over to Opal after the portal closed, leaving the two of them alone in the Library.

"Hmm?"

"I think I understand your motivation now, the one that encouraged you to pick that man."

She looked over at him and frowned slightly.

"Danny Phantom is going to face so much before this is over. I can feel it in my heart. There may be times when he might falter, might fall. Dan is twisted, will be able to face this world that we have hurled them in without flinching. I think… young Danny will need that strength, without taking the risk that comes with having to make it his own."

Clockwork peered in the dim light at his niece. She looked worried, but smiled softly at him all the same. She trusted him.

He only hoped she'd be able to stay this optimistic before it was all over.

#---------#

Danny felt a little disoriented from the sudden shift from the Library to this new world. Shaking his head slightly to try to get rid of the strange buzzing in his ears, he looked around himself. Everyone else was there with him and they were taking in their surroundings.

It was night but when he looked up at the sky he didn't see any stars or the moon through the thick clouds. They were in an alleyway that looked as if it hadn't been cleaned out by the city in a while. Trashcans were overturned, and Danny scrunched up his nose from the odor coming from the trash strewn out around the tin basins. A cat yowled close by, the only sound aside from their own breathing.

"Sam," he said as he turned to his girlfriend, "do you have the compass?"

Sam nodded and traced her hand over the silver locket hanging from her neck. Opal had given it to them before they had left, saying that it was used to find outsiders from other worlds. Apparently people crossing over between worlds was more common than Danny would have originally thought, and the compass was a good way to lock onto someone who needed to be put back in their own reality. After ensuring the thing wouldn't go off and point to any of them, they'd been sent on their way.

"It's not giving off any signs of knowing where this guys is though," Sam said as she inspected it. "It's just spinning in circles."

"We're probably not close enough," Samantha said. She looked like she was getting a little ill from the smell, and Danny wondered if being in a place like this could hurt her. From what they'd been told about this world, plants were little more than weeds on a planet like this. "Can we please move? I'm not feeling well."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Danny said and started to make his way out of the alley and into a street. There were lampposts, but they were all flickering badly, moths flying around the bulbs, a few faintly buzzing as they turned on and off periodically.

Danny looked around, but he didn't see anyone who they could go and ask where they were. In fact, he didn't see anyone at all. The city street was devoid of any people, only having some cars parked awkwardly in the road and a few pieces of trash skittering around in the wind. He shivered, the night air chilly in just his jeans and t-shirt, and his breath came out in little wisps.

"Why is it so cold here?" Tucker asked, shivering a little as he looked around too. "Even for October, it's freezing. And where is everyone?"

"Do you think the book was already rewritten?" Sam asked.

Danny took a few more steps forward and the broken concrete crunched underneath his feet, small pieces skittering slightly in his wake. He knew Opal had said this world was dangerous, apparently a planet full of war, where almost everyone was either a gang member or a mercenary of some sort, both ghosts and humans. He had expected it to be loud, not so quiet and still that his heart seemed to be thundering in his chest in comparison.

A soft sound suddenly caught Danny's attention and he looked to his left. There was a building, windows boarded up and a glass littering the floor in front of it, a soft whimpering coming from it. It sounded like a soft sobbing, like someone softly crying to themselves. A dull neon sign above the door read BAR, the door of which was hanging slightly ajar.

"What the hell is that?" Dan asked as he crossed his arms. "Sounds like some brat in there."

"Maybe someone's hurt," Sam said, sounding worried all of a sudden. "Come on, let's go help 'em."

She rushed for the door and opened it before anyone could stop her and peered inside.

"Hey?" she called into the dark room. "Is anyone here?"

"Sam," Danny said and came in after her. "You see anyone?"

Another sob sounded and they looked up, seeing a faint outline of a bar and several stools and tables knocked around and broken. Sitting in front of the bar, a small figure was on the floor, curled up into a ball and crying softly, shaking a little.

"It's a kid," Sam murmured and moved closer, her arm outstretched slightly. "Hey, are you okay?"

The person just continued to cry, rocking back and forth. Danny's eyes widened slightly when he saw something was sitting in front of the kid, a small mess, oozing dark liquid that looked suspiciously like…

"Don't!" he said and grabbed her hand suddenly before Sam touched the child, who stiffened slightly from the sudden shout and looked up. They both recoiled when red eyes glowed out at them, tears falling from them.

"It killed my cat," a scratched voice rasped out, sounding neither like a girl or a boy. "IT KILLED MY CAT!"

Sam screamed suddenly when the 'child' stood, standing much like a broken doll would and claws coming from it's sleeves instead of hands. Giving a loud cat's yowl, the thing jumped out at them, before a large ecto-blast hit it right out of the air, knocking it through the back wall of the bar. The two teens looked to see a frowning Dan, energy still swirling around his raised fist.

"All right, this place is officially fucked up," he snorted. "And you two, stop being so stupid. That thing obviously wasn't a human."

"We were tying to help," Sam yelled at him, still seeming shaken from the unexpected attack.

"In a place like this, even if that had been a child, there was no helping it," he replied. "I'm here for one reason, to find the bastard who that librarian couldn't keep out of her domain and grab that damn Quill. If you're along for the ride, you had better be able to keep up. Now come on. And get back in your ghost form Danny. You would have been able to handle that if you hadn't been walking around in that state."

He turned away from them and left the bar quickly as Tucker rushed in.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Danny said before two white rings warped around him, turning him back to Danny Phantom. He had to admit, it had been dumb to be walking around as a human in a place he'd been told was dangerous. "Just caught by surprise, that's all."

"What was that? A ghost?" Tucker asked as he looked at the smoking hole.

"It had to have been. It certainly wasn't human," Sam said. "But it was… different looking than any ghost. I mean, it was… twisted."

"Hey," Samantha called into the bar. "Come along you three. Staying here long won't do any of us any good."

The three teens left the building quickly, joining back up with the older versions of Danny and Sam. The plant woman was shivering, her face looking as if she was going to be ill any moment. She looked as eager to be away from here, and Danny couldn't blame her in the least. He had a feeling it had nothing to do with what had happened in the bar either.

Without any location to really head to, the group ended up just following the road north. The entire city looked broken down, as if looters had stripped the place several times, and after a while, everyone just stopped trying to fix up the windows or doors. There were a few craters that decorated the street and sidewalks, even a barrel or two that had fires burning pathetically in it.

Danny wasn't sure how long they had been walking, or how many times Sam would check the compass, only to shake her head and they would have to keep going. Every once in a while he got the eerie feeling that someone was watching them, but when he looked around, nothing was there. He had expected to see someone by now, and after a while he stopped suddenly and sighed.

"Is there even anyone left alive here?" he asked and looked up the sky. "How do we know this place wasn't already cleared out? Maybe this guy already took everyone from this world, or wrote it so there wasn't anyone left alive by the time we got here."

"Yeah, I think Opal would have said something if it was this bad," Sam agreed. "It's a complete ghost town."

Danny wondered if they would even find anything here, and if they did, how long would it take searching? They had no direction to go in, and just hoping they came across something eventually wasn't exactly optimistic. Danny was finding himself really missing the Clockwork that could see into the future. At least that way he would know he was heading in the right direction.

A small skittering suddenly made them look up where the sound had come from. Danny, powering up an ecto-blast in his hand, peered into the alleyway it had come from. However, after a few minutes, nothing happened and the ghost boy sighed in relief. Thinking it was just a rat, he dropped his hand.

"This place is definitely reading a ten on the creepy meter," he muttered before a sudden scream split through the air.

"G-get away from me!"

There was no one around, but Danny knew he'd heard that. Everyone had, judging from their reactions. Thinking it had come from their left, he turned himself intangible and quickly flew through the buildings in the way. Ignoring the cries of surprise at his sudden departure, he looked wildly around, trying to find the person that was screaming.

He saw a young boy running down the street, and he guessed from the kid's appearance, he was only about seven or eight. There were several… things running after him, and if Danny had to guess, he would have said they were dogs. But, they looked wrong. Meat was hanging off of them in a grotesques manner as they ran, and Danny could see blood and bone peaking out from tattered flesh. These things shouldn't have been alive, much less hunting.

The boy suddenly tripped over a jagged piece of the street and fell to the ground. Looking behind him and over his shoulder, he screamed as a dog almost descended on him before it was blasted away by Danny, who landed quickly between the boy and the pack.

"Leave him alone!" he shouted and blasted at another one, knocking it into a lamppost. He expected the others to run since he'd effectively taken out two in a matter of seconds, but they only snarled at him. One jumped at him, snapping at his leg and he had to kick at it to keep it at bay. His foot connected with its snout with a crunch and the dog's body proved to be as fragile as it looked, its head quickly caving in from the blow.

The other dogs rushed forward then, but not at Danny. They quickly descended on the fallen dog, ripping at it even as it yelped and cried out. Flesh was torn from it savagely, and in only whined and barked, unable to defend itself. Covering his mouth, Danny quickly turned away from the sight, feeling his stomach lurch. He tried not to concentrate on the sounds of snapping jaws and howls and instead looked at the boy, shaking and looked up at him in a terrified manner.

"Let's get out of here," he said and quickly grabbed the boy. He didn't want to be there if the dogs decided they were still hungry when they were done.

The boy didn't fight as Danny picked him up bridal style and flew off through the wall. Seeing his group running towards him, he quickly dropped down to his feet in front of them.

"Danny!" Sam cried out. "Where did you run off to? You scared me!"

"Danny, who is that?" Samantha asked him and looked down at the shivering boy. He was probably shaking from fear and the cold, since his clothing was ripped and seen better days. His feet had dirty tennis shoes but no socks on, and his pants and shirt were tattered and patched in several places. He had a jacket, but it was threadbare and looked like it would have been better being thrown away years ago.

"He was being chased by… dogs," Danny said after a moment and put the boy down on his feet. "Are you okay?"

The boy trembled for a moment but nodded.

"Yeah, thanks to you," he answered. "My name is Malcolm. What's yours?"

"I'm Danny," he said. "That's Sam, Tucker, Samantha… and Dan."

The boy didn't seem to notice the similarity between the names, or the icicles hanging from Daniel's voice as he named the last person.

"Say, do you happen to know what's going on around here, little man?" Tucker asked as he bent down a little to talk to him.

"What?" Malcolm asked. "What kind of question is that?"

"Well, we're a little knew to town," Sam said.

This, however, only made the kid's eyebrows raise even more.

"You guys must be from pretty far away not to know what's been happening. Man, and here I thought this stuff was occurring everywhere," he muttered. "Must be unlucky to have ended up in a place like this."

"Why? What's been happening here?" Samantha asked.

A loud howl echoed in the distance and the boy looked around wildly.

"I can take you to where everyone is, but we should go now," he said and tugged at Danny's hand. "Come on, it's this way."

He led them off the main road and down a smaller street for a few blocks before slipping into a narrow alley with a rickety looking fire escape. Climbing up it, it took them to the top of a five-story building and went across the roof to what looked to be a busted air conditioner. With a grunt, he pushed a lever down and a hatch popped open, the air condition tilting on its side to let them in.

"Through here," he said and pointed to a ladder leading down. "Go ahead, I'll come down last. Don't bother to try to phase through, it's ghost proof."

The building was well lit, and it hurt Danny's eyes a little compared to the poor lighting the city had had. Looking around, they seemed to be in a kind of pharmaceutical store, shelves full of medical equipment, and more first aid kits than he could count. Many of them were opened already, and some contents were poured out on the dirty floor.

"It's a way down," Malcolm told them. "We'll go ahead and use the elevator. No one lives above ground anymore. Not since Judas came."

"Judas?" Samantha asked.

"That's what he calls himself," Malcolm said. "He's… well, the one who made everything like this. He calls himself a prophet, says we're being punished for our sins…"

He trailed off, looking a little downcast and looked away.

"The elevator is over there," he said and pointed. "Come on, I'll take you to Angela. She can explain everything to you."

The elevator was actually pretty old. It didn't even run electronically, and had to be manually lowered by the crank attached to several ropes. Danny helped Malcolm turn it since it was giving him some trouble. Honestly, it looked like it was more rust than metal, and they were all kind of surprised it could work at all.

It was slow going, and they passed more floors than just five. Most of them looked abandoned, and none of them looked in any kind of good shape. Almost every single one had busted furniture, or a mess scattered everywhere, or was just bare except for the thick layers of dust on the floors and walls.

When they reached the bottom, Danny was sort of surprised to see there it wasn't even a floor of the building. Instead they were in huge cave that looked like it was still in the progress of being mined out. There were several people milling around, carrying supplies or cooking over small fire pits. There couldn't have been more than about a hundred of people here, but it still looked fairly crowded. In one of the corners there were dozens of bed and cots, all of them busted and uncomfortable looking, and in the other a large supply of weapons placed on racks or in piles.

Some people looked up at one of the elevators coming down with a loud thump and immediately stilled at seeing the group. Many of them looked just like Malcolm, poorly dressed, fearful, half starved… broken. It made Danny feel uncomfortable to know there was a world that allowed this kind of thing to happen.

Malcolm stepped forward and smiled softly at the people, letting them know it was okay.

"Where's Angela?" he asked to an elderly lady who was bent over from a bad back and leaning heavily on a cane.

"She's in the back," a croaked voice replied. "Malcolm, who are these people? How could you bring a couple of ghosts in here?"

"They're good guys," he said immediately. "That boy saved me from the dogs. He calls himself Danny."

"The dogs? You mean you were outside?" she cried out in horror, several people moving in to scold him all at once.

"I was looking for Lily," he argued back.

"Boy, Lily is dead. You know that," the older woman scolded.

"NO SHE ISN'T!" Malcolm cried out.

"Enough!"

Everyone looked up to see a female ghost, arms crossed and frowning. Unlike the others, her clothes weren't ragged, instead looking like a type of military uniform, khakis and a tank top, boots, an unbuttoned army shirt rolled up past her elbows, and fingerless gloves, all black and green in a camouflage pattern. Her skin was a dull green and her hair was only a shade or two darker, tied into a tight ponytail. Metal dog tags hung off of her neck and one of them looked like it had a clear bullet hole in it.

"Malcolm," she said, her tone sharp, "I thought I've told you plenty of times not to go out on your own. We've been devising search parties, and doing the best we can. You aren't going to help you little sister by getting yourself killed."

"But-"

"Putting that aside," she said, cutting him off quickly. "Who the hell are these people? Survivors of some kind?"

"I'm not sure, Angela," Malcolm said. "But they rescued me! That ghost boy took three dogs out in less than a minute. He's really strong!"

The ghost called Angela looked at the group with a scrutiny. Danny blushed a little at the obvious praise and scratched the back of his neck.

"But… they don't seem to be from around here. They claim they don't know what's going on, and when I mentioned Judas, they were completely clueless. You think they're from somewhere else, somewhere where it's safe?"

"There's no such place on the planet anymore," she replied then looked at them. "But they do seem different. You guys… really don't know what's going on here?"

"Not really," Tucker replied.

Angela sighed.

"Great, I don't know if this is good news or a very fucking bad omen," she muttered. "Forget it, come on in the back with me. We can talk. And you Malcolm, get back to the chores you were assigned. We'll look for Lily later."

"But-"

"Now Malcolm," she barked, and the boy wilted, scurrying away.

"His sister has been missing for a month. She was only five, and he's the only one who still has hope. We've been searching for her for so long to appease him, but no one really expects to find anything," she explained. "Anyway, let's go."

She walked past the people, all of them giving the new comers curious stares. Danny felt a little bit like he was on display somehow and ducked his head.

Angela reached a small door and slid it open, revealing what looked to be a kind of war room. There was a small desk with several papers scattered over it, guns resting on walls, and a map of the city pegged up on the wall with several red push pins in it, revealing to them that they were in Chicago, probably a suburban area, judging from the part of the map that was circled and scrawled on.

"So," she said as she sat down on the desk and looked at all of them. "Who are you guys first off, and where did you come from? I don't mind helping new comers, and you more than welcome to stay here with us, but I need to know what's going on before I let strangers live here, and honestly, if you have news of the outside world we don't know about, I'd love to hear it."

"I'm Danny Fenton" Danny said, "and this is Sam, Samantha, Tucker and-"

"Enough of the social party," Dan suddenly snapped. "We're here to find something. Danny had to do his stupid little saving people crap and we got drug here."

Angela narrowed her black eyes.

"Looking for something?" she asked. "What?"

Danny glared at Dan, becoming more and more irritated by him. Still, he guessed it was best to just get the story out of the way. These people might be able to help, and Danny had a feeling in his gut that this Judas guy had something to do with the Quill. Heck, maybe he was the thief.

#---------#

"Do… you really expect me to believe that line of bullshit?" Angela asked once Danny was finished explaining.

"Why would we lie?" Sam asked indignantly. "It's the truth."

"Oh, so you're telling me some dumb ass broad got her ass kicked and lost this stupid pen that can change history, and we got fucked over because of it? That there's some book out there that could make life perfect or fucking hell?" she snapped. "Even if that is true, it's still fucking bullshit."

"B-O-O H-O-O," Dan drawled. "Look, from the sounds of it, you fucked this place up on your own just fine, that's why it got picked. So you gonna tell us about this Judas asshole or do I have to beat the shit out of you 'till you do?"

"Bring it asshole," Angela hissed.

"Stop it," Samantha snapped, suddenly getting in Dan's face. "Don't you dare Danny. We have a job to do, and this isn't going to help."

"Do you think you can tell me what to do Sam?" he snarled at her. "I don't care if you were my friend, I'm not-"

"I don't care either," Samantha hissed in his face. "You are nothing like the Danny I knew, but you are needed. Now you can either shut up and just let us get through this, or I can poison you into submission. I can guarantee you, I'm faster than you are."

The two glared at each other and Sam and Danny cast each other an awkward look.

"Uh, anyway," Tucker said, trying to break the mood. "I guess it doesn't matter whether you really believe us or not. We just need to find this guy and get the quill back. Maybe it's this Judas guy, maybe not. But since he seems to be our only lead, hopefully you can help us out. Either way, if we can take care of him, it'll help you from the looks of it."

"Take care of him?" Angela asked with an arched eyebrow. "If only it were that easy, but… I guess it certainly can't hurt to let you know what's going on. I figure you all are just crazy, delusional, or stupid, but I can't have you all wandering around in my city with you heads stuck up your asses."

She slid off her desk and ran her hand over her hair, sighing.

"Judas came about a year ago, claiming to be sent by the gods. With all the wars going on, he said we were slowly but surely killing ourselves, and our planet. He said if we didn't stop… he would have no choice but to punish us."

"I take it you didn't believe him," Sam muttered.

"Of course not," Angela snorted. "Territories were being fought over, countries were tearing each other apart, and for mercs like me, we loved the money coming from it. Civilians were usually safe, except for countries that were already conquered of course, but hey, that's just war. You think all the politicians were just gonna say 'Okay, let's all be nice to each other,' just cause some lone wackjob told us to stop and behave?"

She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"But he was right. Maybe he was just a nut, but he was a powerful one. When he saw no one was obeying what he said… some sick stuff happened. This plague came, killed a lot of people. Hell, even ghosts like me were susceptible to it. Humans died, and ghosts just… faded away. If that wasn't enough, some living things started to change. It's not rare to see a living thing begin to rot a little, even though it should be alive. Animals that it happened to went crazy and started hunting everything, people began to act the same, like out of some sick zombie movie. Even the sun was blocked out. It's night all the time now, and it never gets warmer than fifty degrees if we're lucky.

"Now Judas rules over us like the god he claimed chose him, and we're powerless to stop him. Some have gone to him, begging for mercy, but no one knows what happens to the humans. They're never seen again, and the ghosts get… changed somehow, acting like enforcers. If anyone is caught out in the city, getting killed by one of them is pretty high risk. Hell, as far as I know, I was the only sane ghost left before you guys showed up. Maybe he takes them in, and they're safe, but I don't believe it. He said he was here to punish us, and that all shall be purged. I think the only ones that have a chance of surviving are the ones who are crazy enough to try and wait him out."

"Where can we find him?" Danny asked.

"Haven't you listened to a word I said, boy?" she snapped at him. "He can't be beaten! He killed a whole planet, and the only life that exists are hovels like this, scattered around in cities that have been torn apart! You really want to go up against that?"

"And do you really want to stay here for the rest of whatever, hoping things just don't get worse?"

Angela faltered, hanging her head slightly and sighing.

"I use to be proud, a person who fought in countless battles, brought people to their knees. I've never been scared, but this is… pretty overwhelming. I don't know where you really came from, but wherever it is, I don't think it can compare to this."

She looked at them, and shook her head.

"Judas doesn't live in Chicago," she said eventually. "No one who want to stay alive lives in the same city he does. And getting to him is said to be impossible. There are rumors that he can see what's in people's hearts, that he can see what a person's intentions are right when they enter his territory. There was an attempt to take him down about six months ago; no one survived and they didn't even get killed by any kind of defenses. I saw on live cameras, they all just… started killing each other until everyone just… stopped moving. It took forever, and I think Judas made it last on purpose, to teach us a lesson about trying to fight back. That's why only the ones seeking redemption bother seeking him. He can make us do things, things we can't stop."

"And you don't believe us, after everything you've seen this guy do?" Tucker asked. "He can control you, but he can't stop us. We can save you guys, maybe even have it that Opal can fix it all. Things could go back to normal, or even better than before."

"I…" Angela said. "Fuck this. Stay the night, and we'll give you a place to sleep and something to eat. We don't have much, but I refused to turn anyone away, even if they do sound crazy. I'm going to have to think about this, all of it. Maybe you're right, and there is hope, or maybe it's some pipe dream. Either way, I promise to give you an answer in the morning."

End of Chapter Four

A gruesome chapter, but one I kind of enjoyed writing. I don't often do horror, so it's nice to break the mold. It's a sort of a downer for a chapter, but I'm not quite sure it was bad enough to rate M. Maybe more around a T. Again, I've never written horror, so I'm not real experienced in putting this on a scale.

Well, anyway, please review. I'm really curious to know if I did justice to this chapter, and all the opinions will really help.

My vacation is almost over, so I think after this it'll be the one chapter a week schedule like I planned at the beginning. Going back to school is going to take up some time, so I doubt I'll be able to crank out as many chapters as before. So, hope everyone liked it, and the next one should be out next Saturday.


	5. Hide or Live?

Okay, fifth chapter. Yay!

I don't have much to actually say about this chapter without giving something away, so I guess I'll just slap up the disclaimer and we can get on to the fun stuff.

I don't own Danny Phantom. I don't own Dan, Clockwork, Vlad, or even Dani. This is slightly depressing, but at least I can still borrow them when I want to. This is intended as a tribute, and not as any kind of Copyright Infringement. Please don't sue, since I have nothing anyway.

Also, I've officially decided to screw the scheduling of one chapter a week. I've been writing nonstop, even with classes. I'm getting homework done than immediately jumping on the computer to do more of this. So I'm thinking more along twice a week. I know, I know. I bet you guys are so disappointed with me. Not.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Five: Hide or Live?

Danny rolled over, his back hurting slightly on the mattress he'd been given to sleep on. Grimacing and realizing he wasn't getting any rest any time soon, he sat up and stretched, trying to force his back to pop. He didn't understand how anyone could sleep like this and looked over to his friends. Tucker was out like a log, and Sam was still with her eyes closed. He rolled his eyes. Typical.

He even saw Dan sitting in a corner, arms crossed and his head resting on his chest. He didn't believe for a second the monster was asleep, but at least he wasn't causing any problems.

Danny looked around a little and realized Samantha was gone. Getting out of his bed, he looked around and saw her towards the entrance, sitting on the floor by herself. Curious, he made his way over to her, trying not to wake anyone else as he moved past the beds.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he came up to her with her back to him.

She looked over her bare shoulder and smiled softly at seeing who is was.

"Why are you awake? Couldn't you sleep?" she asked.

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "That mattress is pretty lumpy. What about you?"

"I needed something other than sleep to rejuvenate myself right now," she replied and he saw her fingers and toes were dug into the dirt. "There's barely any nutrition in this planet anymore. I'm afraid everything here really is doomed. My poor children."

"Can't you make something grow?" he asked.

"Even with my powers, there must be something my plants can live off of. Plants are living creatures as well. We all need food, shelter, and someone to care for us to truly thrive."

"It hurts you to be here, doesn't it?" he asked and sat down next to her.

"Yes," she answered. "In a place like this, I am not as powerful as I should be. I can feel the pain of this planet, like it's screaming in my head. If I were to stay here too long, I'd probably die."

"What?" he cried. "Are you serious?"

"Don't panic," she told him quickly and smiled. "I meant over the course of months Danny. I'm not in any danger right now."

"That's good," he sighed and rested his arms on his knees. "Hey, can I… can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Do… Well, I'm not really sure how to ask," he replied, feeling a little unsure of himself.

"You know you can ask me anything Danny. I don't mind," she told him.

"Well, I guess since you say so. It's about Sam, you know, not you, but-"

"I understand," she said soothingly. "Continue."

"I really care about her," he said after a moment. "In fact, I think I love her. But even though we both know the other feels that way, it's still kind of awkward. I keep feeling like I'm doing something wrong. There are times when everything is pretty natural, but other times when I have no idea what I'm doing."

She smiled softly at him before wrapping her arms around him for a brief hug.

"She knows how you feel Danny," she reassured him. "If she and I are even remotely the same person, I can tell you that she loves you with her whole heart. Things are going to be strange because you're both young, but that doesn't mean the feelings are in any kind of danger. Actually, the fact that you are so eager to please her and show her how you feel, that can only make me think that your chances are wonderful."

He smiled back at her.

"I hope so," he said then paused. "Uh… but what about you? Do you get… lonely in your world?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "When I first followed Undergrowth, I was willing to do anything and everything for the planet. His demands seemed reasonable. The humans that hurt the planet needed to be stopped. Maybe not killed, only controlled. I was willing to do so much back then, and I know now I was... overenthusiastic. But when you came back, you faltered. Undergrowth didn't want you to be controlled, he wanted you dead. I carried out his orders, only to realize what a horrible crime I had committed was. I fell into grief, but he didn't care. He only wanted the world, and I saw that I had become his attack dog. The other people were only toys to him, and he hurt so many, just for some form of revenge. I knew you never would have wanted that, and I began to fight his control. All he wanted was to rule the planet, while I was hoping to help it. Maybe I am just trying to justify my actions, but I couldn't allow myself to sink any deeper. He had given me so much power; I don't think he ever thought I would fight against him, or possibly even defeat him. I did though, and I decided since I could not change what happened, I would take care of them all, the plants and the people. I would have released them, but they had been attached to the plants too long. Surviving without them would have been impossible. They dream in my world, and are cared for. I know you probably think I'm horrible, but I can only try to atone for my mistake."

He watched her during her confession, her face sad as she looked over at him.

"You know, you don't have to go back to that," he said. "I mean, we can get Opal to change it."

She shook her head.

"My world is of my making, and I don't really see it as a bad place. There is peace there, and contentment. Besides, I have made my mistakes, and I have to live with them. You don't need to save me Danny. After all, I'm here to watch over you now."

"But-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips, her lips curved in a wistful smile.

"I love you Danny Fenton," she whispered. "Trust me, like I always trusted you. Now go to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

With an unenthusiastic nod, he stood and made his way back to his bed. Seeing Sam's hand hanging gently over the side of her bed, he took it gently in his and lay down, smiling at her.

"Night Sam," he said softly and closed his eyes.

#---------#

"I've been thinking about this all night, and I've decided that I believe you."

This statement causes a happy reaction from the group of outsiders as they stood in the 'war room' with Angela. She did in fact look like she had been up all night, her hair slightly messed up and bags under her eyes. Even her glow was fainter than what it had been before.

"Which is why I've decided not to help you. Get out."

Danny's grin faltered and he blinked.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I said you need to leave," Angela replied. "Everything you've told me, as much as it's a crappy, unfair situation; it all makes sense. If he really has this book, and he can really control and know everything that happens on this planet, than he's probably going to notice you the second you get there, if not earlier. And if he knows you're there, than he's going to know who led you to him. I won't risk him wiping this whole city out of existence as some kind of punishment for helping you out."

"You're not even going to tell us where he is?" Samantha asked.

"No. Go somewhere else to get the information to fight your little war. I have people's lives to protect," Angela said curtly. "And if you don't want the same answer, I'd suggest getting your info in a less obvious fashion than just saying you new to this world."

"How can you be so heartless?" Sam asked. "Look at whats happening. Look at how people are suffering. If you care about their lives than do something! Even if something bad does happen, we can get Opal to fix it."

"You can't guarantee that!" Angela snapped. "For all we know they'll just pull their holier-than-thou, 'We can't interfere' crap! And even if you could, you certainly can't guarantee you can even get the Quill back. Maybe he can't affect you, but he can still kill you! He still has powers, and an army under his command! Now get out!"

Danny opened his mouth to argue but Dan snorted and shook his head.

"Forget it, she doesn't want to help, and we're waisting time. Let her and the other cowards hide," he muttered and made his way to the door.

"Hey, whoever said you were in charge?" Danny snapped at him. "You shouldn't even be here."

Dan rounded on him and glared.

"You couldn't be stupider if you tried Daniel. This is exactly why Clockwork picked me. You are going to be determined to right every wrong, to expect everyone that isn't a bad guy to be your ally. If there's anything I know, it's when a person has been broken Daniel. She doesn't want to help us, and she isn't going to. She's useless to us. If I can respect her wishes to hide, than I'm sure you can."

Danny faltered and sighed angrily. He understood where Angela was coming from, he did, but they didn't have the time to be hopping from city to city. He was worried about what was going on and about Samantha. They couldn't afford time to waste. But he certainly couldn't force someone to help.

Angela watched them leave with a sigh, laying her hand down the table. It had been very, very tempting to tell them where to go. But how would that have been any different than leading them to the front door with everyone else, just waiting for Judas to slaughter them? When had fighting become the same as giving up?

They were being punished. Fighting, it had brought this on them. She had killed in battle for little more than money, hadn't cared if the world burned, as long as she had a comfortable place unaffected by the rubble. Now they were being slowly strangled for their pride and arrogance.

She had been so sure she wouldn't have survived. She'd thought she'd end up just like the others. But the people here had found her, had helped her. Now they depended on her to keep them safe. She had to take that in consideration first.

"You're letting them leave?"

She looked up to see Malcolm looking at her wearily. She sighed. Another demand at a rescue attempt? Maybe she could go out and look on her own. It'd keep him content, and she had the best chance to avoid getting caught by the monsters outside.

"They wanted to go after Judas."

"To ask forgiveness?"

"No... to fight him," Angela sighed.

"But... don't they know that's impossible?"

Angela growled a little, more irritated at the young boys questioning than she should have been. It wasn't just him though. Guilt was eating at her stomach, even though she knew she'd made the right decision. She was damned if she did, and damned if she didn't.

"I don't think they do," she answered after a minute. "I don't think they believe it. People believe what they want, and logic or facts don't always matter."

"Like how I believe Lily is alive?" he asked softly.

Angela looked up at Malcolm, seeing his face tinted with sadness. It had been the first time he'd ever admitted to the possibility of her really being gone, at least out loud. She'd heard all the excuses, maybe she was hiding, or had found somewhere else safe, or just couldn't get back for some reason. She'd known he would have to accept it eventually, but it still shocked her. His will was so strong... to give up, even a little...

She slammed her fist down on the table, causing the boy to jump. What in the world was she doing? Maybe it had been pride that had made them a war-torn planet, but it was Judas who was dealing the final blow. If she was going to go out, it was going to as a warrior, not as a sheep waiting for slaughter.

"Malcolm," she said suddenly to the startled boy, "I'm going with them. Don't let any of the others come with. In fact, tell them I left but you only know I said I'd be back soon. If all goes well, I'll be back in a.... No, if all goes well, you won't even remember this conversation."

"I... I don't understand," he said his, confusion obvious.

She knelt down to a single knee and laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him softly.

"Don't ever stop looking for her," she said solemnly. "I think maybe we can change things, maybe go back and fix it. But in case it doesn't work, don't ever give up hope that Lily isn't out there somewhere, waiting."

She left the room quickly, phasing through the wall and heading up through the ground. Once outside she looked around to see them still on the roof.

"Hey!" she called and quickly flew up to them. "Hurry up will you? We need to get out of this city and get to Judas."

"Angela?" Danny asked, seeming a little surprised. "What are you doing out here? I thought you didn't want to help us so the others wouldn't be hurt."

"Look, don't worry about it right now. We need to get going. If we're going to take him down, I'd rather get in and do it before he has time to make me regret it," she replied. "Maybe I'm just letting my pride get in the way again, and I hate the fact that I'm gambling the lives of the people who have come to depend on me, but we can't last like this. I can only hope if I do fail he won't take it out on the people I left behind."

Danny smiled.

"Don't worry, we won't let you down," he said.

"So where do we find him?" Tucker asked.

"Easy, the only place fit for a god, on top of the world," Angela answered.

"Uh... Mt. Everest?" Danny guessed.

"The North Pole," she replied. "I always thought he had a bit of an ego, and ironically, it's the only place that can support any kind of life thanks to him. I think he likes to show off, to rub his power in our faces."

"Well, that certainly sounds like a good way to do it," Sam grumbled. "Doesn't he care about this planet at all? Seriously, that can completely scar a planet to mess with it's environment that much."

"I doubt it matters to him," the former mercenary answered. "Anyway, don't worry. I have a way to get us there, since obviously not all of you can fly and you'd die of old age if you tried to go by foot. There's a hanger north of here. I can fly a plane to get us there, though in order to avoid being seen from afar, you'll probably have to walk a bit of the ways. Then, you go in and kick the supposed god's all powerful ass."

"What about you?" Samantha asked.

"If I can be controlled, than I don't want to hurt your chances at the operation while I'm with you. I get you there, but after that, you'll be on your own. If I start to I start to act funny before that point, you have my full permission to take me out."

"Well, I didn't need it," Dan said with a smirk, "but thanks for the consideration."

"You sure this thing can even get off the ground?" Tucker asked as he looked up at the rusted airplane. It was bulky, looking much like a model that had come out in World War II, and had definitely seen better days.

"Trust me," Angela replied. "By the way, there's weapons in the bunker. You can take whatever you like while I get the engine started. It's only been on the ground for a few years."

"We're gonna die," Tucker groaned.

"Just the mortals," Dan replied with a snicker. No one paid any attention to him. They were getting kind of use to it by this point.

"How long will it take to get there?" Samantha asked.

"About six hours, maybe seven," Angela answered. "We'll fly in as close to his place as we can, then you'll have to sneak in." She pulled the door open and lowered the ladder for Sam and Tucker before phasing into the cockpit.

"If I may, does anyone have a plan for when we get there?" Samantha asked as everyone got in.

"We need to get to the book, and Judas," Danny replied. "I doubt we can pull this off without a fight though."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Sam said as she picked up a ecto-pistol. "Danny, this looks like a lot of the stuff your parents would make."

"If ghost were acting as mercenaries on multiple sides, than it doesn't surprise me," Tucker replied. "Heck, I bet just about everyone was on the level of ghost hunters around here. It's not like this place left a whole lot of room for normal people."

"Yeah, I guess not," Danny said before Dan walking off to the back rooms. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To take a nap," Dan replied with a wave of his hand. "Wake me up when we get there. You kids have fun."

"Jerk," he muttered.

"Just ignore him," Tucker replied and lifted up a bazooka almost as big as him. "Ha! Look at this baby!"

"Be careful with that," Sam said as she tried to find a match for her pistol. "We don't want to shoot the plane down from the inside."

Samantha chuckled softly and the three teenagers looked at her in confusion.

"Uh... is something funny?" Sam asked awkwardly. She wasn't sure how she felt about her older self really. It was a little weird to have her walking around, especially since she was a few years older looking than her. It kinda made her feel a little weird.

"No, nothing much," Samantha replied and brushed some hair past her ear. "It's just nice to be amongst friends again." She looked to where Dan had walked off to and frowned. "I think I'm going to get some rest too. It's bound to be a long trip."

She walked off to the back, opening the door and slipping inside.

"Hello," she said to Dan, who was lying back on a cot built into the wall.

"What do you want?" he bit out.

"Company," she replied honestly. "Are you willing to give some?

"This going to be sit and talk about the good old days company, or some real fun company?" he asked.

"The first one," she replied a little curtly.

"I was kidding," he replied with a snort. "I certainly wouldn't want you that close to me anyway. You'd probably eat me afterwards."

"That's insects, not plants," she corrected with a sigh. She supposed she couldn't fault him. His education had stopped promptly at 14. It's not like he'd ever cared much for that kind of thing from the beginning anyway.

"Whatever," he replied.

"May I ask you something?" she asked as she went over to sit on one of the other cots.

"Shoot," he said.

"Do you miss them at all?"

Dan sat up and looked at her levelly. Her expression held curiosity, and a tinge of something else. Sympathy? Pity? He growled.

"Do I look like I miss them?"

"No," she sighed. "I guess you don't. But... do you?"

He glared at her. She wasn't going to leave this alone. Stupid, annoying Sam. She always had to get in his business. She always had to bug him when he didn't want her to. Always had to... care.

"At first," he admitted begrudgingly. "At first I was angry. I'm really only really half of Danny. He threw me away, like it was all my fault. We were never different people, but he wanted to act like we were, like I had forced him to do what caused the deaths of... you and the others. I resented it, and wanted the pain to go away. Hurting others," He grinned. "Hurting others helped, a lot. It got fun, and I stopped thinking about it. After all, they were already dead, and there was nothing I could do about it. So why bother being anything than what I really was? A monster that caused death, just like Danny thought I was."

"So, you don't think about us at all anymore?" she asked softly.

"What good would it do?" he snapped at her. "I'm not like you are, wallowing in misery over the fact you killed someone you cared about. Deal with it and move on!"

"You never were a good liar Danny," she said. "Especially concerning your feelings."

He snorted.

"As if you have any right to talk."

"No, I guess I don't," she replied and looked down to the floor, disheartened. She felt a sudden shudder in the plane, no doubt it was close to getting in the air. She shivered slightly, not like the feeling of steel surrounding her at all.

"It hurts you to be here, doesn't it?"

Her gaze snapped back up at him, a little shocked. That exact question, the very same that Danny had asked her last night. It had even sounded like the younger man's voice for a second, or had that simply been her imagination? She had a feeling it wasn't anything more than wishful thinking.

"I'll be happy when we're done with this task and I can go back home," she replied honestly. "But don't worry, I won't be a burden."

"Good. Honestly, you're the only one I trust not to get in my way."

"That's almost sweet of you," she noted.

"I'm in a good mood," he grumbled. "Do yourself a favor, don't mess that up."

She chuckled softly, smiling at him. Honestly, all of his bad boy antics were a little endearing. He wouldn't let her look him in the eye, and she was reminded of the shy little boy she'd known so long ago.

"What do you plan to do when this is all over?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I have no idea. Clockwork already said flat out he wouldn't be letting me run off if he thought I'd do anything, so chances are nothing fun. Hell, he'll probably just shove me back in that damn Thermos."

"Why did you agree to come along then?"

"Better than not existing period," he answered. "He may have me on a leash right now, but I'll think of something eventually." He grinned wickedly. "And I'll make him regret it."

Samantha bit her lip and looked away. She'd thought for a moment of offering him a home, but his answer had certainly made her happy she hadn't gotten that far yet. He may be Danny, but not the Danny she remembered. It was foolish to hope for his friendship. Foolish, and hurtful.

"I think I'll rest for a bit," she said as she laid down on her cot. He didn't respond, so she shut her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

#---------#

Angela switched off the rest of the controls of the plane, doubting she'd be needing to use it again. Either this was going to be fixed, or this whole decision was going to blow up in her face. Either way, she doubted she'd have to use the plane to get home.

"Everyone ready?" she asked as she made her way to the others.

Danny nodded.

"We get in, get the book and stop Judas," he said. "Easier said than done, but hey, anything comes up, we burn that bridge when we get there. Since you aren't coming along, are you just going to wait for us?"

"I've been thinking about things actually." she told him. "If Judas has the book, than he obviously used it to stop that attack half a year ago. He may have read about them coming, but everyone has submitted to his authority by now. I don't think he's going to be as on guard. You say this book records everything, all the thoughts and actions of every single living thing, but even for one day, that's too much for a single book. I think there's some trick to it, like he has to have something in mind he wants to read about or change. I don't think he'd read every single minute of the day to make sure someone wasn't coming for him. After all, that's what he has guards for. I figure the longer he doesn't know about you, the better chance you all have."

"How are we going to keep him from noticing the fact we're in his home?" Sam asked.

"Simple," Angela answered as she grinned wickedly at them, ecto-energy crackling around her fists. "A distraction."

End of Chapter Five

I know it wasn't anything more than more talking, but obviously there will be more action in the next chapter. Senseless violence! Woot! I'm already half done with the next chapter, so it will be out on Saturday. I'm figuring there will be a chapter or two more in this world before things get back to the Library, and you all know what that means, right?

You got it, eventual Dan/Clockwork fluff! I know everyone's been eager for it, so I figured I better deliver before you guys pull out the torches and pitchforks on me.

As always, please review. You guys have been great and I always look forward to your opinions.


	6. God or Devil?

Wow, you guys are so great! Here I thought I was updating too quickly for you guys to keep up, and I already get like five reviews almost immediately after posting the fifth chapter. You are all so awesome and I heart you all!

Danny Phantom is not mine. Dark Phantom is not mine. Vlad Masters is not mine. I am setting traps up for them though, so this might change. If you see some strange goth woman hiding in the bushes holding a string, tied to a stick that is holding a box up with video games/a Maddie plushie/a Clockwork doll (to love or torture, either way) underneath it and _**Fenton Box**_ spray painted on the side, don't worry. It's just an author who wants something that she can never have.

So... please don't sue me and stuff.

...

Uh, yeah. Guess we better start that chapter now, huh?

Chapter Six: God or Devil

A lot of people thought that Jack Fenton was simple minded. There was certainly a particular billionaire mayor who was infuriated by this thought and constantly tortured himself wondering how such a simple minded fool had stolen such a beautiful and smart woman from right under his nose. Really, he wasn't simple so much as he was driven. He focused on something whole heartedly, even if it was usually just one thing at a time, and always drove through even when he wasn't very good at getting results.

Dani sighed as she sat at the breakfast table, still in her pajamas. This was definitely one of those times. She couldn't say she enjoyed being grabbed from her bed first thing on a Sunday morning to pretty much be interrogated on where her male counterpart was. She hadn't even been allowed to get her cereal first.

She didn't care how dangerous it was next time, there was no way she was getting left behind to deal with Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie again. As it was, Danny was going to have to pay her back big time for this. A few years of doing her chores and lots and lots of candy should do the trick. Yup, that sounded about right.

"I don't understand why he isn't back yet!" Jack said as he tinkered with his latest invention. Actually, his current level of tinkering was as effective as taking a large mallet to it considering his agitated state, and he wasn't having much luck in either case. "Didn't you say he would be back by now?"

"No," Dani immediately said. "I said he was out running errands for Clockwork, and that he would be back eventually."

"Didn't he want you to help?" Maddie asked and Dani had to try very hard not to feel guilty for lying. The woman was not freaking out nearly as much as Jack, but Dani knew she was just as worried, if not more. She was just being more composed about it. The clone guessed it was a mom thing.

"I wanted to, but Danny asked me to stay behind in case something bad showed up. Besides, he knew someone had to let you guys know what was going on."

"Not to be mean, but you haven't exactly," Jazz said. The teen looked a little suspicious, and Dani looked away. It was so annoying how her cousin was so good at reading people. Lying to her was almost impossible. "You haven't told us where he is, what he's doing, or why Clockwork needed him in the first place."

"I just don't know everything that's going on, that's all," Dani said, evasively.

"He could at least have left us a number to reach him," Jack fumed.

"Um, honey, I don't think ghosts have phones," Maddie said. "At least, not that I've noticed."

"You're probably right," Jack grumbled. "I bet their roaming charges would be ridiculous."

"So, you're sure you have no idea where he is?" Jazz persisted, seeming to be the only person who could keep on track of the fact one of their family members was missing.

"Sorry, no. Would if I could," Dani replied, deciding dancing around the truth was no good. No, it was time to outright lie. "But it's okay. It's not like he's doing anything dangerous."

#---------#

BOOM!

Danny nearly stumbled as another blast rocked the large building they were in. Either Angela was doing a very good job keeping the guards distracted, or the guards had very lousy aim. Either way, he hoped the ghost mercenary was all right.

The groundwork of the place was actually pretty simple. Nothing more than two towers sprouting up from an oblong shaped two story building, one was several stories higher than the other. Angela had said it was a pretty likely that the book was in the taller one with Judas, and that she could go handle the other side while they snuck in. It seemed to have worked pretty well too, considering they were already a good third of the way up the tower and hadn't come across anything yet.

"Man, for an all powerful messenger of god, you would think he'd have thought of putting in some elevators," Tucker panted as they made their way up another flight of stares. He had the bazooka he'd grabbed slung over his shoulder, very close to having to drag it.

"I told you to grab something smaller," Sam said to him as she indicated to the two pistols resting on her belt. "Honestly, boys are all the same. They see a big toy they want to play with and they never consider the possibility it might be too inconvenient to lug around."

"Not my fault," Tucker replied. "I mean, this is probably gonna come in useful. Never know when something big will come our way."

Danny had to admit, he was inclined to agree. This place was pretty big, and aside from the occasional empty room, it was just a straight shot up. He wasn't even bothering to fly since he wanted to save his energy in case something came up, and there was no way he was going to zip off for the book and leave the others with Dan.

"At least an escalator would have been good," Tucker grumbled.

Actually the whole building seemed to be lacking of any kind of technology. Like the Library, it was made completely of stone, and instead of lights there was several floating blue flames lined along the walls. Danny had at least expected some cameras or something to avoid, but he guessed he really shouldn't complain.

It was just...

"This seems too easy," he said and stopped suddenly, nearly causing Sam to run into him.

"Danny, we don't have time for that," she said as she steadied herself. "Angela probably only has so much time until Judas figures out what's going on. We have to hurry before something happens."

"Yeah, I know, but don't you think it's odd? If there was an attack, shouldn't they have left some people to protect the other side, especially if it has the book to this whole world?" Danny asked. "This feels too much like a trap."

"If it is, than we burn that bridge when we get there, right?" Tucker asked, repeating his best friend's words back at him.

"All we can do is hope that isn't the case," Samantha said. "We need to keep going, or otherwise Angela's actions meant nothing."

"No, we can," Danny said suddenly and took her hand quickly. He pulled her away from the group and whispered to her, "How likely is it that you can keep Dan under control?"

She quickly glanced out one of the windows. Snow blanketed the ground, but many plants and trees still remained, sprouting out of the white powder and clashing with the weather it should not have been able to survive in.

"Very confident," she replied. "Strength-wise, he is more powerful, but I have abilities that far exceed his. We are a bit even matched, but he wouldn't try anything. I could more than hold him long enough for him to be put out of commission."

He nodded.

"Okay. Look, I'd hate to ask, but we need to cover as much ground as possible and you have a much better shot against him than either Sam or Tucker. I'd be terrified to-"

"Don't waste time then, Danny," she said and smiled at him. "You know I will help you."

"Okay," he said again before turning back to the others. "Change of plan. Tucker, Sam, we're going to keep going up to the top of the floor while... Dan and Samantha check out the other one real quick."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Dan snarled with his arms crossed. "You wanna tell me why you think ordering me on a wild goose chase is a good idea?"

"We need to cover as much ground as quickly as possible," Danny said to Sam and Tucker, ignoring his future self. "Samantha can fly with Dan to the top of the other tower and see if anything is there. If there is, than she can grab the book and Quill and we can get back to Clockwork and Opal faster. If not, than she can get back to us while we continue to head up and that way we know for sure. By that time we'll probably be close to the top anyway."

Dan scowled before Samantha laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, we should get going. The sooner this is done, the sooner you're free," she said softly to him.

He rolled his eyes and quickly picked her up bridal style. It was tempting to blast a whole in the wall and exist that way, but instead he phased through it, flying quickly to the the top of the tower with the plant witch in his arms.

"That brat owes me," he snarled.

"Don't be so upset. This is smarter," Samantha said before her arms tightened a little around his neck.

"Are you scared?" Dan asked incredulously. He could easily drop her, but he was more than sure something stupid like a giant tulip would probably just pop up and break her fall, hardly making it worth it.

"No, it's just been forever since I've flown. I'd forgotten how good it could feel," she said as she smiled softly at him.

Dan snorted.

"Yeah, that brat owes me big time," he muttered, causing Samantha to laugh a little.

He flew quickly up to the top of the shorter tower, going intangible and getting them both inside. It actually surprised him. He'd figured it would have been ghost proof or offer come kind of resistance. He scrunched up his nose, a unpleasant odor attacking his nostrils immediately.

Samantha hopped down from his arms and looked around. The room was dusty, incredibly dusty, like it hadn't been tended to in years. She frowned as she walked over to the only thing that looked to be in the room, a large wooden table with what looked suspiciously like a book laying on it.

"Could this be it?" she asked as she tentatively picked it up. Like everything else, it was dirty and several pages cracked and fell out of the text when she lifted it up.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Dan said as he crossed his arms. "And if it is, I'm telling Clockwork you did that."

"Oh, for the love of... You act the same as when we would get in trouble with Lancer," she muttered to herself as she bent over to pick up the spare pages. She blew the dust over them and her eyes trailed over a few words before she paused.

"I... um Danny," she said.

"Do you think you could not call me that?" he asked her in an irritated manner as he went to inspect the large tattered velvet curtain that was hanging over a part of the wall.

"I think that maybe you would want to listen to this," she said.

"What?" he asked as he looked over at her, a part of the curtain fisted in his hand.

"_I was informed that He wanted to save this world. I have always been a devout believer in not only a higher power, but a greater good. He showed me things I do not think I could ever put in words, and He called me His chosen one. I followed His orders, first warning the people, then unleashing His wrath when they ignored me._

"_I thought I was doing the work of good. I pulled this planet apart to please Him, with the thoughts that it would be our salvation somehow. However, despite many coming to ask forgiveness, He only has me dispose of them. He says it will only stop when the whole world repents, though I do not understand how this can be possible. People are afraid, and that included me._

"_I had begun to doubt, and He knew. He always knows. He has locked me in here, with no way of escape. He has stripped me of my powers as His prophet, and without them I am but a mortal man. He has left me with this book, perhaps as a mockery of the work I have done for Him, but I will still use it. I can offer no way to stop Him, since I know no weakness that He possesses, but I can say this to whoever is reading this._

"_I am sorry. May I burn for my sins at being taken in by the Devil."_

Samantha felt a shudder that she could not suppress run up her spine. The words seemed to chill her and she quickly set the book down. There was no more on that page, and she had a feeling it was the last one. She had no desire to see anymore.

"Think it was Judas?" she asked.

"Probably," he said. "And I think this is too, or at least was."

She glanced over to what he was talking about and saw he had pulled away the curtain, revealing a man who most certainly dead. He looked like little more than a skeleton with some skin stretched over him with some wisps of hair still on his chin and head. She frowned, suddenly realizing that the smell was not just dust.

"I think we need to get back to Danny," she said, an unpleasant feeling settling in her stomach. A sudden scream cut off her thoughts and she whipped around, wondering where it had come from. "Did you hear that?"

"Hard not to. Yeah, I think we should get going. You're getting jumpy."

"I'm worried about the others," she replied.

"If it's any correlation, from the looks of it, you should be," Dan said then smirked as he continued to eye the corpse. "Hmm. He's skinnier that I figured he'd be."

#---------#

Angela whipped around, barely dodging the guitar that was suddenly embedded in the stone floor next to her.

"Get out of my way," she snarled before shooting a blast into Ember's stomach, sending her crashing into a wall. That was another ghost out of commission, at least for a few minutes. She huffed tiredly. Only hundreds more to go. She was going on full power here, since it was the only way she was going to give that kid any kind of chance to reach the top, but it was draining her quickly. It didn't matter though. She had to last as long as possible.

She gave a startled shout as pain seared in her back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Technus powering up another energy blast as he shakily stood from the stairs that she'd smashed him into in what seemed like only seconds ago.

"Oh, not you again," she snapped. "Lie down and give someone else a fucking chance to lose, you long winded asshole."

"You certainly have spirit. I wonder how I missed you."

Angela looked back over to where she had heard the voice.

"Judas," she snarled before her eyes widened a little in confusion. "Wait. You're not-"

Her words were cut off when suddenly a clawed hand grabbed at her throat and she was shoved crudely into the wall.

"No. I'm not," he replied as Angela stared at him in terror. Electricity surged through her and she screamed, clutching at the hand, trying to pry it off of her, even as her body burned in the pain. She yanked at the appendage in panic but it didn't do her any good. The grip was like steel and her hands could only limply hold at the wrist as she gasped when it finally stopped.

She whimpered slightly, her eyes trying to focus, even as it felt like she was going to fall into nothingness. Her body was either numb or burning and the claws tightened ruthlessly to keep her awake.

"Who... are you?" she whispered softly.

"God," he replied and she screamed again, the pain only worse the second time around.

#---------#

"This has got to be the last floor," Sam said as she pointed to the large wooden trap door that was above she, Danny's and Tucker's heads. "Should we wait for the others before we go up?"

"Yeah, they're kinda taking a long time," Tucker replied.

Danny quickly shook his head.

"We can check this out first, then wait for them," he said. He was a little worried that Samantha wasn't back yet. Had he made the right decision in sending her off on her own with Dan? He tried to push the worried thoughts out of his mind and remind himself that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He should remember that at least. After all, he had fought her... and had apparently lost. If nothing else spoke of her powers, than that did.

"What if they found the book?" Tucker asked.

"If the room's empty then I can then we can get to the other tower. I can fly us all over there if I have to. We'll meet back up with them as soon as we're finished searching, whether they come to us or we have to go to them," he decided and flew up to the trap door. Giving a grunt as he tugged on it, he was able to get it open for the other two and a ladder slid down for them to use.

"Better than stairs again," Tucker tried to joke, causing Sam to roll her eyes before moving up the crudely cut wood.

"Can you guys see anything?" she asked after all three had reached the top. There were no windows to let any kind of light in, and she could swear that the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees just from coming inside. "Brr. It's freezing in here."

"Just a second," Danny said before he lit some ecto-energy in his hands, illuminating the room in a pale green light. There was actually fog rolling down at their feet, causing Tucker to quickly lift one foot and then the other, looking like he was doing some weird dance.

"Man, what is this?1" he asked, sounding just slightly panicked.

"It's just fog Tucker," Sam said. "Calm down. Hey, isn't that the book?"

She pointed over to a podium that looked much like the one Danny had seen Opal use and he cautiously walked up to it. There was in fact a book laying open on it and Danny had to screw his eyes shut and open them again to make sure that they weren't playing tricks on him.

The words were moving, looking like they were slithering over the pages like the were snakes. Many of the lines weren't even English, instead different languages that he could barely even identify, much less read.

"Weird," he muttered. "But it has to be the real thing. But where's the Quill?"

"I don't think I see anything else in here," Tucker replied as they looked around. "Maybe it's not in here."

"It's... it's not."

The three teenagers quickly turned around, weapons out and pointed before they saw Angela, nearly doubled over and panting a little. Her jacket was severely torn and she looked like she had been beaten pretty bad. Green blood was oozing slowly from her mouth, with her right cheek very badly burnt.

"Angela!" Danny cried and ran up to her. "Angela, what happened?"

"It was... it was a trap," she gasped. "He knew you... th-that you were coming."

"Who? Judas? Where is he?"

Angela shook her head.

"No. Not Judas."

"Then who?"

Her head snapped up suddenly and she grabbed his throat, standing and lifting him up in the air.

"God," she replied levelly before hurling him down the trap door and into the ground below. She immediately jumped down after him and drove her feet into his stomach, making him shout in surprise and pain.

"Danny!" Sam screamed.

"Sam, grab the book! Don't forget that's what we came for!" Tucker cried then leveled the bazooka at Angela. "Alright you, you get off my friend or I let you have it!"

She glanced up at him and shrugged.

"And hit your friend while you're at it?" she asked before Danny suddenly went intangible and slipped out from underneath her boot. "What?"

"Back off Angela!" Danny cried and punched her in the jaw, causing the ghost to stumble backwards a few paces. "I don't want to fight you."

She wiped at her face with her fist, spitting out a bit of blood and stared levelly at him.

"I don't care," she stated before shooting a beam of energy at Danny. The boy barely dogged before he saw Angela get slammed in the stomach by a blast from the bazooka. A surprised expression flashed on her face as she flew against the wall, the stone crumbling around her as coughed violently, green blood erupting from her mouth.

"Tucker, don't!" Sam said and grabbed one of the boy's arms. She had the book tucked under one arm and was giving him a panicked look. "She's just being controlled. It's not her fault. The book was probably used to manipulate her."

"Can't you fix it then? You have the thing," Tucker asked quickly as he watched Angela dig her way out of the wall and fly at Danny. The young ghost boy was doing his best not to further injure the mercenary, and was quickly getting hurt in the process. Angela didn't seem to have any reservations about fighting like the boy did, and paid her wounds little mind as she attacked.

"We don't have the Quill, remember?" Sam informed him as she quickly flipped through the book. "Besides, even if we did, I don't think I have any idea where to start with this. Seriously, this thing makes no sense whatsoever."

"Then we do the only thing we can do," Tucker said. "We keep her from killing Danny!"

Angela was getting annoyed by this point. Sensing the blast coming this time, she hit it away as if it were a beach ball, sending it flying back at them. Seeing her chance as Danny quickly tried to fly off and help them, she flew forward suddenly and crashed into him, shoving him down to the floor as the blast made contact with the ceiling, destroying a large part of it and sending it crashing down to the floor. She pinned his wrists above his head with one of her hands, the other raised in the air, crackling with energy.

"You even think about getting away," she snarled as the roof cracked further, "I'll finish them off before you can save them. Do you want to risk it?"

Danny's eyes widened as he looked at the now smoking ceiling. He didn't seen either Sam or Tucker, and he they weren't saying anything so he would know they were all right.

"Sam!" he screamed. "Tucker! Are you guys okay? SAM!"

A sudden coughing sounded from above them and he saw the outline of Tucker waving his hands through the smoke.

"We're fine!" Tucker called down.

"Don't even think about it," she hissed as Danny made to move. "Are you really so eager to gamble with your friend's lives?"

"I could save them before you got to them," he argued. His bright green eyes betrayed his shock however when she lowered the energy next to her own head.

"I ask you again, are you willing to gamble a friend's life?" she asked evenly. "He knows you. From the second you entered this world, he's been watching you."

"Angela," Danny said desperately. "Angela, stop please. I don't want to fight you. Don't do it."

"Good answer," she replied. "Now tell them to give me the book."

"Danny?" Sam asked. "Danny, we can't see. What's going on?"

Danny swallowed as he stared into Angela's eyes. She wasn't bluffing. She would do it. He couldn't let her. She was being controlled. It was no different than murder.

"Sam," he called, knowing he had to do what was demanded of him. He could always try to get the book back later, and the Quill was still out there. "Sam, I want you to-"

Writhing tree trunks suddenly burst through the stone walls, ripping a large opening into it and thin ones shot forward, grabbing Angela by the throat and crudely ripping her off of Danny. Samantha stepped down on the floor from the opening, her eyes glowing a dark green and her face livid with rage.

"Get off him," she hissed. Angela didn't even get a chance to scream before more branches wrapped around her angrily, covering her mouth and holding the rest of her body, squeezing harshly.

"Get up," Dan said gruffly as he grabbed Danny's arm and yanked him up off the floor. "Honestly, do I have to save you every time you get in trouble?"

"Let me go!" Danny snapped at him and wrenched at his arm. "I have to stop Samantha! Angela's being controlled!"

"You think we don't know that? Face it, we know more about why she's acting like this than you do!" Dan replied angrily. "Hell, we watched him do it to her! He never even needed the god damn book to get to her!"

"Wha... what are you talking about?" Danny cried. "Let me go!"

"Danny, what's going on?" Sam cried out before she and Tucker quickly peeked past the crumbling ceiling. "Hey, when did they get back?"

"You, girl, where's the book?" Dan snapped up at her.

"G-girl!" she snapped back at him. "You know my name is-"

"WHERE'S THE GODDAMN BOOK?" he shouted at her, fanged bared.

"We got it, it's up here with us!" Tucker cried. "What's going on?"

"You, get our stupid friends to shut up and get up there with them!" Dan snapped at a shocked and confused Danny, literally throwing him at the ceiling. The younger halfa had to phase quickly to avoid crashing into the stonework.

Dan strode forward towards a still seething Samantha. Branches were still squeezing Angela, whose screams of pain were muffled, but still quiet loud despite the branches as she tried in vain to phase out of them without any success.

"Sam, we have to go," Dan said as he laid a hand on Samantha's shoulder. "SAM!"

"No, she's going to pay," the woman hissed. "She hurt Danny."

"Dammit Sam, snap out of it!" Dan snapped and shook her roughly. She seemed to come out of her daze suddenly, her eyes going back to her more faint tint of green and she looked at Dan, confused.

"Danny?" she asked softly.

"He's fine," he said quickly.

"No, I meant..."

"Arg, we don't have time for this," he growled as a sudden wisp of red colored breathe escaped past his lips. There were ghosts coming. Lots of them. "Come on, we're leaving."

Samantha's eyes met Angela's one last time as Dan took her in his arms and flew up to the top floor. Narrowing them in anger, they flashed for a second and Angela was roughly crushed against a wall by the plants.

Dan looked around quickly, seeing everyone that had come with him. He wouldn't have cared usually, but had a feeling he wasn't getting out unless he had them all accounted for.

"CLOCKWORK! BITCH! I KNOW YOU TWO CAN FUCKING HEAR ME! OPEN A PORTAL AND GET US OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

His words seemed to be heeded as a purpled flash nearly blinded him and he, ignoring all the questions that was being thrown at him, shoved the kids in the portal before going in himself and dragging Samantha along with him. It closed with a quick pop and suddenly the branches slackened considerably, dropping Angela to her knees on the floor pathetically. She coughed and rested her hands on the floor, trying to will away the pain in her body as the door burst open and several ghost poured in.

"They escaped?"

She coughed again and lifted her head to look at the one addressing her.

"Yes," she breathed. "I tried to stop them, but... the others came after me. They all got away... with the book. Please forgive me."

"Don't worry. It was one book, and one world. Besides, I already gained what I want from it. You actually surprised me, being willing to sacrifice your own life in order to get the book back."

"I didn't think he'd call me on it," she replied slowly. "Gambling my own life is easy... it's the other's lives that I got scared over."

"Wise thoughts, though many would not think them. They are ones that I value though. You would not have acted that way a year ago. You have shown redemption from your previous sins. That, and only that, is why I will spare you."

"And the others? The ones in Chicago?" she asked.

"Yes, them as well. You show devotion, one of a true believer and warrior. I've been looking for someone like you anyway. Tell me, how would you feel about being a general to my army? Most of them are mindless drones now, forced to follow me from what I already wrote in the book, but you are different. You have a devotion to the cause of saving others."

"Will my service spare my city?"

"I already agreed. You know that."

Angela swallowed.

"Yes, anything you want," she said as she lowered her head. To any of the ghosts, it probably looked like she was bowing to him, but her actions was just to hide the tears of hatred and shame sliding down her face.

She'd sold her soul, and she knew Danny was as good as dead because of it.

#---------#

"You goddamn manipulative son of a BITCH!" Dan howled and grabbed Clockwork's cloak the second he was out of the portal. He slammed the Time Master against a bookshelf, eliciting a slightly shocked look from ghost that was older by millennia. "You knew about this! You knew and you fucking used me! WHY? What the fuck are their... FUCK THAT! WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?"

"Uncle!" Opal cried out and grabbed her necklace. A sword was in her hands in a second before Samantha quickly stepped in her way, glaring at her menacingly. "Wha... What in the world are you doing? Do you have some desire for me to fight you?"

"Hey, what's going on?" Danny asked angrily.

"Why don't you ask him?" Dan yelled in Clockwork's face. "You think you're so fucking slick, don't you? Well I don't care if I go down with you because of it. I will tear you apart, limb from limb you bastard!"

"What are you talking about?" Clockwork asked calmly. His staff had gotten knocked from his hands when he'd been grabbed, so he figured talking this out would be easier. Besides, he was honestly curious about what had the man so upset.

"Don't give us that," Samantha bit out. "You had to have known about this from the beginning, both of you. What were we? Mere pawns to be offered up in this little game? Warriors that would get forced into service too?

"What are speaking of?" Opal asked angrily.

"I don't buy this 'I can't see the future' crap for a second," Dan growled. "It was just too damn convenient. You would know all about their plans. Hell, I bet this has all been one big set up and you just do what your told like a little fucking puppet!"

"What are you both going on about?" Sam yelled suddenly. "Have you two been taken control of like Angela?"

"Angela was never taken control of," Samantha hissed suddenly. "All of her actions were completely willing. We heard her screams and went to help her, only to find she was being negotiated with. She exchanged her city's safety for Danny's life and protection of the book. She was blackmailed and gave in like a little traitor. We had to fight our way out so we could help you. He didn't even have to use the book on her."

"He?" Opal asked. "Then you saw who has the Quill? Who is it?"

Dan glared at Clockwork.

"She doesn't know, does she?" he bit out. "Was she just a tool too? Not that I fucking care, but if she was, there's no reason to kill her in front of you if you didn't care about her in the first place."

"Phantom, that's enough," Clockwork replied, his eyes and voice suddenly steely. "What are you talking about? Who has the quill?"

"Don't you dare play dumb with me. I am not stupid."

"Phantom. I don't know who did this. Calm down and please answer my question."

"You want to jerk my goddamn chain?" Dan asked as he bristled. "Fine. IT WAS A FUCKING OBSERVANT!"

End of Chapter Six

Now _that_ is a proper cliffhanger. I want to know I shocked at least one person with that. LOL Don't worry, all will become clear... eventually. This chapter actually was supposed to have more fighting in it, but it was running long and was pretty pointless, so I decided to condense it into one chapter and get the guys back the the Library.

This chapter was very fun to write, as I don't do action much, but when I do, man does it rev me up. I actually sat down around eleven or so at night to write up the last half of this, and am finishing it up now at six in the morning. I haven't had any caffeine but I'm still wide awake. Let's hear it for adrenaline. Yippy!

A mention on what was most definitely my favorite part of the chapter, the scene where Samantha just pawns Angela. It was actually originally supposed to be Dan that jumped into the fight and beat her around for a few minutes while Samantha got everyone together and got them out of there, but I changed it for a few reasons that I want to share with the the class.

First, I thought it flowed better. While I could see either situation realistically, I think what I originally had in mind didn't quite work when used with the next scene where Dan goes all mafia enforcer on Clock. (_English, mother fucker! DO YOU SPEAK IT?_ lol) He would have been all calm and sadistic when throwing Angela around, and then go nuts once he saw the Time Master? Nah. He may have a lot of things wrong with him up in his head, but I don't think bipolar makes the list. Also, I wanted to immediately show something major was going on. What better way to portray that than through Dan freaking out about getting away from the fight? I portray him as I perceived him in TUE: calculation, cruel, sadistic, and really very calm in most situations (granted I added the cussing, mainly because if it wasn't a Nick show, we all know he'd fscking cuss). To me, he isn't the type to leave a fight unless something really, really pressing is happening. He wasn't worried about loosing; he's pissed because he thinks he's been back-stabbed by a person he doesn't even care for in the first place.

Secondly, and despite all the talk for reason one, this was actually the determining factor. I wanted to show a side to Samantha's personality that has been very subdued up until now. She cares about Danny. She cares about Dan. She even cares for Sam and Tucker (though, granted, not as much). Aside from plants and her home, that's really about it. She is not a good person. Not evil, but not good either. She killed Danny for her plants, and even though she was possessed, and actually has a way to go back to fix it and get Danny back, she still refuses. She thinks her world is a better place than Danny's even though she feels guilt about his death, and is still the ruler over it, causing her to bargain for it's safety before she even agreed to help the one she loves. Deep down, there is a very harsh and cold part of her, much like Dan only not quite as obvious, so it might be more dangerous in the long run. He's just randomly destructive, like a storm. She's passionate, and obviously didn't take well to Danny getting hurt or thinking she'd been betrayed by Clockwork and Opal, which led to Danny getting hurt. If she'd been allowed, she would have destroyed Angela, probably very slowly.

I feel this adds more depth to her, and makes her different than Sam, in that it shows that she is much more twisted than her younger counterpart. It shows what Sam can become if she's not careful. Much like Dan is to Danny.

Anyways, except for the long (and relatively pointless) author note at the end, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and review. It is always appreciated. ^_^


	7. Confusion

Finally, some Dan/Clockwork moments. Granted, it's not very big or very obvious, but it is there. It's about time considering this is the seventh freaking chapter. Of course, I could have just written a senseless little PWP for them instead of a plot to go with it, but I really want to build up their relationship before all the hot melts-the-minds-of-the-fangirls sex (which there will be plenty of eventually).

Also, I want to apologize about the lateness of this chapter. It was suppose to be out on Wednesday but I've been doing so much writing for several different projects that I've been getting a bit overloaded. I am currently writing up character bios and so forth for a webcomic I'm co-authoring called Learning Love. DP yaoi, ya got to love it. It's been taking up a large chunk of time since I'm eager to get it started but the post-production on my side is (mostly) done now. Anyway due to me being so busy, this chapter had been written and ready to go, only for me to realize two days later I hadn't posted it.

Ugh. Don't I feel dumb?

On the bright side, I've mostly got the 8th chapter done, so it should be up by Saturday night at the latest.

I do not and will never own Danny Phantom. But I do own Opal, Scrinium (even though he's little more than a name right now), Angela, Malcolm, and Judas (who will never be more than a name). Too bad I don't think Butch Hartman is interested in any kinda of trade.

To the next chapter!

Chapter Seven: Confusion

A stunned silence followed for several moments after Dan's yelled proclamation. Clockwork's eyes just sat levelly on his as the violent ghost seethed. He said nothing, even as the gears in his head were turning. Could this be true? He saw no reason for the man to lie, at least, not like this.

It was Opal that finally broke the tense silence.

"Such words are foolish," she said with only a trace of hesitation. "An Observant changing the course of a history is not possible. That action would go against their very nature, especially for their own gain."

"It's what we saw," Samantha replied. "And we know you're the ones that take orders from them."

"Look, everyone just needs to calm down," Danny said quickly. "Dan, let him go, now."

"So what is this?" Dan hissed in Clockwork's face, ignoring Danny. "What shit did you set me up for?"

"Hey! I said let him go!" he yelled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Clockwork admitted.

"Yeah, why don't I believe you?"

"Because you never believe in anyone. Because you stand alone and couldn't care less on who thinks that's a weakness or not. Because you are arrogant... but if you don't let go of me and tell me what happened than you are not going to exist in the next five seconds and I'll just have to ask Samantha whats going on," he replied, just the barest tone of a threat in his voice.

Dan growled and roughly released him before stalking away a few paces. Seeing the tense scene was over, at least for now, everyone else relaxed slightly.

"I think we should discuss what happened in that world," Clockwork said as he readjusted his cloak and retrieved his staff. "All of it."

#---------#

"And then after we found what was left of Judas, we heard Angela. Leaving to help her, she'd been beaten, badly. She was pleading for Chicago be spared despite her transgression and he agreed, on the sole condition that she served him," Samantha finished after Danny had explained what had happened, at least what he knew. "And she agreed to it. He sent her to fight Danny and we followed after her, after fighting our way through the ghosts that had spotted us."

"I still can't believe she would betray us like that," Sam said. "If I hadn't seen it for myself then I would have thought it was impossible. I mean, how could she have done that to us? We were trying to help her."

"Yeah, but she knew us for what, a day?" Tucker replied. "We should have figured if she had to, she'd choose to save her city over us. We were just outsiders after all. And she was never enthusiastic about helping us in the first place."

"I imagine she's been punished for her failure though," Samantha said with a smirk.

"Are you positive that it was an Observant she was speaking to?" Opal asked.

"For the hundredth fucking time, yes," Dan snarled. "Green scaly skin, clawed fingers, one eye, holier that fucking you attitude. He couldn't have been more obvious if he'd had a god damn neon sign over his head."

"Vulgar language aside," Samantha said as she shot him a look, "we are sure."

"So, an Observant stole the Quill?" Tucker asked. "But why would one of those guys do something like that. Don't they have this don't interfere rule?"

"Yes, and it is for such reasons that it doesn't seem possible," Opal replied. "Is this not true Uncle?"

Clockwork didn't reply to the question directed at him. In fact, he hadn't said anything at all during the entire exchange of events that had happened. He simply floated there, listening, and thinking on what was getting said.

Did they have such a policy? Of course, but above everyone else, he knew they also had a hundred loopholes for that rule. How often had they come to him, demanding he change something, or gone to Scrinium for him to erase a world or rewrite it? True, it was not in their way to infer directly themselves, but that did not mean that they did not interfere. Opal's interactions with them were limited. She was little more than a caretaker to them so they paid her no mind. She only knew of them when they visited Scrinium, her faith in them much more blind than the other ghosts that worked for them and knew better.

He could more than understand Dan's immediate assumption that he was involved. Not the types to get their hands dirty, they often sent others to do what they thought best, him being one of the prime people they liked to harass. And often, their methods were easily what others would call extreme. Had they not themselves once ordered him to kill a simple boy in order to save the future and he had to work with in the parameter of their orders, even if it was simply to twist them in order to offer Danny a chance to save himself and the others around them? Life to them was on their considerations of good and evil and nothing else, thinking themselves to be beyond the understanding of lesser creatures.

He could say with certainty that destroying a whole planet in order to force people to repent was not exactly up their alley, but it was too close for his comfort level.

"Uncle?" Opal asked. "Do you... do you truly believe this is possible?"

"I believe Samantha and Dan are telling the truth, that they saw an Observant there. And you didn't see your attacker. It could have been anyone," he replied. "They are the type to send others to do carry out their plans. They could have easily found someone to assault you, if one of them didn't do it themselves. And you said the compass never worked?"

"Not once," Sam answered. "Would it have locked onto one of them?"

"No, it wouldn't. They are constantly watching and visiting other worlds. That tool being able to lock on them is pointless, and it should have led you to an outsider of the planet, no matter how far away they were. If it did not work, it was because you were the only ones, besides for the Observant, that were there."

"But wait," Danny said,."If they wanted to change the history of one of these worlds, why do through the effort of stealing the Quill and book? Wouldn't they have just ordered you to change it, or gone to Opal?"

"If they were going to change a world, it shouldn't have been like that," Sam agreed quickly. "And look at what they were doing to those poor people. War is horrible, but no one deserves what Judas did to them."

"And in the end, Judas was nothing more than a simple puppet," Clockwork mused. "Exactly something the Observants would do."

"So the motivation fits, just not the methods," Samantha sighed.

"They would have gone to us," Clockwork agreed. "Unless..."

Unless they were getting tired of Clockwork doing what he saw fit with the time stream and not what they thought was best. It had been a constant go back and for the between them, for them to order, and he to do what was right, whether they thought it was the same or not. He still remembered the outrage they'd had for him when learning that not only was Danny Phantom still alive, but that his evil self still existed, even if he was contained.

Had their scorn for him really reached past their patience?  
"Unless?" Danny prodded, breaking his train of thought.

"Unless they thought I would not have gone along with it," he said eventually. "The same with Scrinium. The Observants don't always agree with our methods. Aside from the occasional scolding, it has never amounted to much, but it doesn't mean they haven't decided this time that they would do better without Scrinium. And they would not have gone to Opal either."

"Yes, I do doubt they would seek my aid," she admitted. "They think little of having a mortal here, and it is my father's duty to rewrite the books, not mine. I have the ability, but it is his decision. Even if they were to have ordered me, I would have awaited my father's return before taking any action, even if it took years. After all, being able to change a story at any point, it hardly matters when we do choose to take the action of taking such an action."

"So are you saying that they did all of this just to change the history of one world because those people kept having wars?" Tucker asked disbelievingly. "Seems a tab bit extreme."

"Some of the pieces just don't fit," Samantha agreed. "We do however have the book at least."

"This is true, but without the Quill, I can do nothing to fix what was written inside," Opal said.

"So, what do we do?" Sam asked. "Try to go back?"

"If the Observants are really responsible for this, we must consider our actions carefully, even more so now," Opal said. "Would it not be best to go to the Council? Surely we can receive some answers that way."

Everyone looked to Clockwork, who only shook his head.

"This requires some thinking," he said and turned away from them.

Opal watched him go, her lips frowned with worry. Her uncle was acting so odd, it seemed there was very little she could do to help. In fact, she had to wonder if his lack of foresight right now was because of her decision to go to him.

"I suppose we must simply wait," she muttered before Dan growled.

"Oh, screw that," he snarled and stalked off to follow after the Time Master.

"Hey, where-" Danny started.

"Boy, if you don't shut up and stop barking at me every time I move than I am going to have to tear you tongue out," he threatened, his back still to the group. Not receiving an answer, he continued to go after the other ghost.

He found him at the other end of the library, looking towards the vaults. Dan groaned and rolled his eyes. This was so stupid.

"Are you fucking sulking?" he asked and heard Clockwork's sigh in response.

"I'm trying to decide what to do next," he answered. "Something I would have a better chance at if I weren't being interrupted."

"You really can't see the future? At all?" he asked.

"No," Clockwork answered. "It happened shortly before Opal arrived in my tower. It just... stopped."

Dan raised an eyebrow. Had he been imagining it, or was there heat in the man's voice?

"I want to ask you something," he said. "Could the Observants take away your powers if you ever... oh I don't know, turned against them or pissed them off somehow?"

"Doing that would be foolish. They need someone to affect the time-stream in times of crisis."

"But do they need you to do it? Or could they just kick you to the curb and pick someone else?"

Dan didn't receive an answer and swore under his breathe.

"Don't you think this would have been something you should have told me before?" he snapped. "You're the only one who can and seems willing to, for some insane reason that I appreciate but don't really get, keep me alive."

"They can not strip me of my powers," Clockwork snorted. "They did not bring me into creation, nor can they do away with me. I have... merely existed since the beginning, just like they have. I exist to keep time on its proper course, not to be their tool. I am a force more than a simple ghost. Keeping me from my knowledge of the future should be impossible."

"But it's apparently not," Dan replied. "And you do obey them."

"Do you know they have ordered me to destroy you?" he asked as he looked to Dan. "On multiple occasions since you have been trapped."

"Doesn't surprise me," Dan said with his arms crossed. He'd heard the Observants whining about him plenty of times from the Thermos. "I guess you never agreed with them on that point?"

"I don't believe in simply killing someone to make a supposedly better future," he replied. "Everyone is capable of being their worst possibility, to become a true monster, just as they have the same chance of living up to their full potential in another world. I don't kill you now for the same reason I didn't kill Danny simply to do away with your future, because everyone, including a person like you, deserves a chance to become better."

"Psst," Dan snorted. "Geez, I'm flattered. But I think you're expecting a bit much."

"You said 'our friends'," Clockwork pointed out.

"What?"

"When you were trying to get out of that world you said our, not your," he explained. "I heard it, just like when you were screaming for Opal to get you out of there. Which by the way, I didn't take well to my niece being compared to a female canine."

"Get over it," he replied then shook his head. "And what I said to Danny was just a slip of the tongue. I don't care about those whelps."

"Hmm, I wonder."

"Anyway, don't you try to change the subject," Dan said quickly. This was starting to sound too much like the conversations he'd had with Sam. "You've lost part of your powers. How likely is it that you could lose the rest?"

"Are you that afraid of dying that you must continuously harass me?" Clockwork asked.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Dan yelled at him, earning a sudden glare from the Time Master.

"Do not lie to me," he said coldly. "Everything you have done is to ensure your existence. Your going back to cheat on that test, your unwillingness to bring any real harm on Danny even when he opposed you, your actions right now, everything you do is to keep yourself alive. You are more afraid of being gone than most mortals. You are afraid my powers will fade, and you along with it. But I will not rush off into a course of action that may not be wise, just to suit your demands. Now let me be. I need to think."

"You're being a whiny bitch," Dan muttered and Clockwork shook his head.

"And hypothetically speaking, if I were to ask you what you think I should do, what would you say?"

"Go confront those assholes and demand to know what the hell they're doing, that's what," he replied. "If you can disobey them enough that you can tell them to screw themselves concerning me, than you can have the guts to do this too. Or are you scared that they really did find a way to cancel out your powers?"

"You realize that suggestion could very well kill you?"

"So could waiting around and doing nothing."

Clockwork sighed, getting annoyed by all of this. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow, it had happened. For the first time in his entire life, he was unsure of what to do. He didn't think anyone could truly understand how maddening that was to him, though he did have some sudden sympathy for Danny with all the times he'd yanked the boy's chain. Not knowing what was going on was more irritating than he would have thought.

He didn't know if the Observants had somehow found a way to strip him of part of his power. If they had, if they could and really had been willing to go that far, he didn't see how going and confronting them would yield any kind of positive results.

"I would be much more at ease with this situation if I knew what was going on," he replied. "I don't like not knowing why this is happening to me."

"You sure that book that records your part of the Ghost Zone is safe?" Dan asked. "I mean, what proof do you have that it's okay? Have you ever thought to go check?"

"I can't."

"Why not? Where is it?"

"You think I'm going to tell you of all people that?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, you can tell me at least what it records, can't you?"

"The keepers of time and space like myself, Scrinium, and the Observers," he replied after a moment.

"And is it possible to rewrite that?"

"No, that one book is set. Trust me, it's been tried before."

"Oh?"

Clockwork rubbed at his forehead. He could feel the beginning of a headache coming on.

"Don't think a crisis can only happen on the mortal world. There are threats even to is, like certain ghost kings that held an iron grip on the Ghost Zone for so long," he said. "Suffice to say everyone, including us, has to work on our own problems. Using a magic fix-all solution is never a good thing to rely on."

"Okay, enough with the suspense. Look, there are two options. Go figure out whats going on, or do nothing. Now are you going to do anything, or did you loose your spine with your sight?"

He looked over at Dan and had to chuckle. There was something terribly ironic about Phantom telling him he should go off and play the hero. Never in a million years would he have expected something like that out of him.

"I don't know what is in store for your future anymore, but I must say, it has probably become much more interesting, no matter how it plays out," he informed the psychotic ghost.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Dan asked, sounding confused.

"Your future was going to be nothing more than that Thermos for the rest of eternity," he answered. "Forever, all alone, unless you count me."

"I'd rather not," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Your words and actions really do surprise me," Clockwork confessed. "I knew I could force you to help, but I never thought you'd fill the role so well. Compared to all the other surprises, it's actually rather... pleasant."

Dan gave him a very odd look. What the hell was that suppose to mean? And why the hell was he smiling like that?

"So... what are you planning to do?" he asked, annoyed.

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice really. There aren't many options," he said. "I do know one thing, this isn't something I can involve Danny in in good conscious. I'll send them back and speak with the Observants. Either this was simply a little 'You had better listen to us' moment taken to the extreme for them, or they had a real reason for doing what they did. In either case, it's nothing I'm going to involve them in."

"And what if it's neither? What if they've all gone a bit nuts and decided they want to rule the world?" Dan asked.

"I doubt that very much," Clockwork said and shook his head. "Let's try to keep our theories to ones that actually make some kind of sense."

"So if you send Danny skipping home, what about me?" Dan asked suddenly.

"Do you really have to ask?" he replied. "I'm not bring you along when I try to talk to them, and I think I've asked poor Opal to go through enough of this without having to watch over you. Nice a girl as she is, she really is little more than a librarian."

"You are not putting me back in that Thermos," he hissed at Clockwork. "I did my part. Don't you dare go back on our deal!"

He suppose he had promised, but that was also under the assumption he'd be able to ensure Dan didn't go off and misbehave. As it was, they both knew the Time Master was at a bit of a disadvantage on being able to do that. And it wasn't as if anyone would blame him if he went back on his deal. The Observants would be livid if they knew he'd released Phantom.

He sighed. He had a feeling what the Observants cared about was going to very quickly become even more unimportant to him.

"You can behave while I'm away?" he asked with an eyebrow arched.

Dan frowned.

"You promised me my freedom," he snarled.

"And technically you promised me the Quill would be returned to the Library, which hasn't happened yet," he retorted. "Once it is back, you can go where ever you like, but afterwards. Hope this works out and when I get back, you may not have needed to do anything more than sit here and wait."

"Backstabber."

"I think I'm giving you more than you deserve," he replied honestly. "I'm meeting you half way. It's certainly a step up from getting canned back up like leftover soup."

"I hate you," he hissed.

"Well, I'm sure I deserve it," Clockwork answered calmly.

#---------#

"What?" Danny yelled at Clockwork. "Are you kidding? After all this, you just want me to go home? Are you crazy? I mean, there's something going on here."

"Yes, and I plan to handle it," the Time Master replied. "I would think that you would be happy considering how busy your were when I fetched you."

Danny frowned and looked away. That had been a bit bellow the belt. He'd had his Saturday blown, but he hadn't minded _that_ much.

"Go home, all three of you. The situation will be handled," Clockwork replied as he opened a portal for them. "I'll inform you if your assistance is required further."

"But..."

"Danny, this is starting to sound a bit big, even for you man," Tucker replied. "You know Clockwork wouldn't tell us to go if there was anything we could do to help."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Come on Danny. I mean, your parents and Dani are probably getting worried by now."

"I... I guess," he replied and saw the look on both his friends' faces. "Fine."

He looked to Samantha's and scratched the back of his neck.

"Guess this is goodbye?" he asked.

"I'll be staying for a while in the Library," she answered. "Mostly to keep an eye on Dan until this is all over. But yes, I imagine this it the last time we'll see each other. It was nice to meet you again."

She smiled softly and Sam cleared her throat.

"We should get going," she said, tugging a little on Danny's arm.

The three left, the white haired teen still a tad reluctant as he was pulled away by his girlfriend. Dan snorted at the sight.

"She's jealous of you?" he asked unbelievingly at Samantha.

"I felt jealousy a lot concerning you," she answered. "It doesn't surprise me, though it hardly matters. He is right. We'll probably never see each other again."

"Well, you'll have your harem to keep you company once you get back," he teased before she glared at him.

"How long do you think you will be gone Uncle?" Opal asked Clockwork as the other two bickered amongst themselves. "I am slightly apprehensive of what the Council might say."

"You still don't believe it?" he asked.

"Well..." she said hesitantly. "I can not say that I know for a certainty that they in fact did not do it, however lack of proof is not proof of lack. I am, at best, torn on the matter. I do trust in you though. I think you will make everything right. And I do want to thank you for helping me like this. I imagine Father will be greatly displeased with me once I he returns."

She looked downcast and he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You've always done your duties well," he said. "He didn't save you in order to make you a tool. He wanted you as a daughter. You should know that by now."

"Yes," she said and nodded her head. "In any case please be careful. I would still like to join you."

"No, look after them," he said with a shake of his head. "I'd do it, but I have a better chance getting an explanation out of the Council than you ever would."

"If I may ask, why not just send them away? Samantha only stays for Dan, and you could easily use other means to ensure he is no harm."

"Because I promised," he replied with a sigh.

"Uncle?"

He shook his head. He could not explain it, but there was an air of unease in his stomach. He actually felt... worried. This may not go well, and he had no way to know for sure. He may need Dan again very soon, and he knew if he went back on his deal, Dan would not be in any mood to help afterwards. No, it was best to give him the little bit of trust he had earned.

Besides, he still wanted to know exactly why Dan had done his best to save all the others instead of just his own skin when trying to escape that world. It would been easier to leave them, yet he had intentionally made sure all of them were safe before making any attempt at leaving. It was causing a strange curiosity to settle in his mind, one he really wanted to find an answer to.

He didn't like not being omniscient. It was very unsettling.

#---------#

Angela sighed as she sat on her cot, tending to her cuts and bruises. As a ghost, she healed a lot faster than most humans, but that didn't mean it still didn't take time. She was feeling damaged, both her body and her pride. She'd been so close getting Danny and helping her charges, and now nothing was going to change for them until she got that bloody book back.

"The Quill is useless without a book to write in," she whined out sarcastically then snarled. "Fucking bullshit."

"I see you're still frustrated."

She looked up to see the creature that was her current tormentor at the doorway. He didn't look anything like any ghost, and he certainly wasn't a human like Judas was. She hated that single eye of his that he sported. It made her feel as he was looking into her soul, and she wished he'd blink every once in a while.

"It's nothing," she lied. "I'm fine."

"Well, that is good to hear. I hate my believers to be distressed."

She refrained from snorting, but just barely.

"I have a mission for you," he said suddenly. "Usually I would simply send one of my lesser servants, but I thought you would appreciate this. Not a job a general would usually do, but-"

"Enough," she snapped. "What do you want me to do?"

She screamed suddenly as pained raced through her, nearly sending her to the floor. Gasping, she clutched at her stomach, trying to regain her composure.

"I don't think I really need to remind you what kind of control I have over you," he stated coldly. "You're mine now. Never forget that. I will accept pride from my believers, but only to a point."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked softly.

"The ones that invaded this domain, they're a wild card in my plans. I need them to be taken care of, starting with that one, Danny Phantom. You already had him once. If there hadn't been interference he'd be gone now. I believe you can handle him again."

"You're worried about a single boy?" she asked, but more because she didn't want to do it than anything else. Hadn't she stabbed the poor kid in the back enough for this thing's amusement?

"Worried no, but I know personally that one being can make a very large difference in the whole run of things. Just look at me. I have come so far after being shunned. Called me a heretic, but they'll see who was right in the end."

Angela stared at him in confusion, but he simple ignored her.

"In any case, I need you to take care of this. I haven't come as far as I have just to loose it to one boy or the others who accompanied him. He can't be controlled, so he must be done away with."

'Wait a second. That's why your sending me,' she thought maliciously. 'You don't want to send any of the ones you enthralled with the book. They'd probably be able to break free of your control with that whole being in multiple stories rule. Bloody one eyed bastard. Still... not like I have a choice in the matter.'

"The boy is as good as dead," she said and stood.

"No, rest up first," he said.

"What?"

"I am kind to my followers," he explained. "I do not expect you to fight while you are still hurt. Take your time to heal and then let me know when you're ready. We aren't in a hurry after all. Besides, I don't want to risk the chance of you losing."

"Whatever you want," she said and sat back down.

The Observant left the room, the door shutting behind him, only to see a very irritated pair of eyes pointed at him. Scars criss-crossing all over the right side of his face and an angry glare permanently set on his blood red eyes, he looked the opposite happy on his better days. At the moment, he looked ready to kill someone.

"You know I wanted to be the one to go after Danny Fenton."

"I know, I know. But I don't want to reveal you just yet," the 'god' replied. "Besides, is it so wrong for a father to want to keep his son out of harms way?"

The boy in front of him snorted.

"I've heard that line before. And I'm not your son."

"I beg your forgiveness, but I'm still not sending you Wraith. You'll get your chance later."

"If she doesn't kill that brat, I'm going to, with or without your permission," the boy hissed at him before stalking of.

The Observant sighed. He had such a troubled following. Seems he had his work cut out for him to make them happy.

End of Chapter Seven

Bah, I reveal one character to you, just to bring in another mystery. I'm so horrible. Why is an Observant a supposed heretic? Who is Wraith? Why is he following the Observant's orders? And why does he got his panties in such a bunch over poor unaware and usually confused Danny? Is Noroi ever going to reveal what the hell is going on?

Tune in next time to find out! Same fanfiction time, same fanfiction channel! And yes, I have been watching 60's era Batman. I've been developing insomnia lately, and it's the only good thing on at three o'clock in the morning.

Oh, and for those who are curious, this title chapter refers to Clockwork's reaction to loosing his powers. Thinking about it, don't you think you'd be unsettled if you were completely all knowing and then suddenly had no idea what was going on? He's keeping his composure now, but it's going to get a lot harder after a while. Poor Clock, his problems are going to get worse before they get better. But at least he has Dan by his side. Lucky bastard.

Please review to feed the muses. Especially the chibi Ghost Writer that is currently chewing on my ear. I think he's getting hungry from working so hard.


	8. Taking a Chance

Welcome to chapter eight of Time will be the Judge. I'm happy to say that despite this chapter somehow getting deleted twice, it was still made it out (relatively) on time.

Some things to note. Sadly I have never seen the episode, Torrent of Terror I believe it is, where they show the Council of the Observants and unfortunately from as far as I can tell, that is the only episode with them in it. Therefore I don't know exactly how the Council would act or how they are organized. I'm just kinda winging it from what I've gathered on the Internet. Sorry if I screw anything up.

I do not own Danny Phantom. I do however own this idea. It's a cool idea. I am proud of it. Aside from the idea though, it all belongs to people richer and luckier then I.

Chapter Eight: Taking a Chance

Clockwork didn't often go before the Council. Though he did work for them, he very rarely had a reason to see them. They were technically his employers, but he saw himself more separate from them than he knew they cared for. Not better, just separate. They could see into the future, but only the current course that the world was on. It was him that they used to predict the twists or turns that could take place in all the worlds. On the other hand, they worked as a whole, together to try to determine what the best course of action would be for the world. He usually agreed with them on what needed to be done, but he thought they had such a bad habit of demanding the immediate and fatal means to bring about the results. They were all too eager to cut someone away for the better of the whole world.

He always gave them what they wanted, but not always with such crude terms. Still, he was the only one for the job. It's not as if they could put out a "Now Hiring" poster, and they all knew it.

Going to them was never something that he did unless he needed to. More often than not, it was them summoning him for some reason.

Which is why he wasn't surprised by their shock when he burst into the council chambers. He could see they were most likely in the middle of something already as he moved to the middle of the room, the circular stands that they were sitting at surrounding him. The talking amongst them gradually died down slowly as they noticed him and there was a strange sort of silence.

"I don't honestly know if you know why I'm here or not, and we all know I'm not the type to waste my time with a simple visit," he said before any of them could question him. He wanted this done and over with. "There was recently a theft at the Library of the Worlds. Opal was attacked and the Latrocinium book was stolen, along with the Quill that was used to rewrite it."

Several murmurs sounded at this, sounding much like angry bees to Clockwork before a voice cut through.

"This is grave news," an Observant at the most northern part of the chamber replied. He was larger than the others and his robes were a slightly brighter shade of white, marking his supremacy over the rest of the Council. "And we thank you for bringing this to our attention Clockwork. Who is the thief?"

Clockwork wondered for a moment if they were bluffing. Deciding to call them on it, he decided to go with the truth.

"I don't know," he said simply. "Shortly before Opal came to get my help, all my visions of the future simply disappeared."

"What?"

"That's not possible!"

"Your vision is unbreakable!"

The shock at the proclamations didn't really surprise him. Somehow he had had a feeling they hadn't really been the ones to do this to him. They depended on him was too much, and their sudden reaction only further proved it.

"This news is disturbing," the Head Observant said. "Have you any suspicions on who it might be?"

"I have been investigating," Clockwork answered. "I enlisted the help of young Danny Phantom, along with with a few other allies."

"Allies?"

"Phantom and the current ruler of the Arbustus world, Samantha Manson," he replied to which angry whispers immediately started to sound around him. He rolled his eyes. This was hardly going well, he could tell.

"You unleashed Phantom, and you have no way to control him?" the Head of the Council asked unbelievingly. "What possessed you to do something so dangerous?"

"I may have lost my sight, but the rest of my powers are still the same. He knows he can't live if I choose to wipe him away from history. If he were to so much as run, he would not be a threat," Clockwork replied. "I will take full responsibility if he does do something wrong, but so far, he has been nothing more than help. In fact, he and Samantha claimed to have seen what they believe could have been the thief. While trying to retrieve the book, they came across someone who was attacking an occupant of that world, and bargaining for her service in his plans if he spared her and her city. And I believe them."

"And who was this person that they saw?"

"They claimed it was an Observant," he replied.

He had been expecting shock and outbursts. He'd expected them to call the two liars and demand they be brought forth for punishment for their transgression. He hadn't been expecting the silence that followed after his statement and the worried looks that the Observants were giving to each other.

"How sure would you say she was?" one Observant asked.

"Enough that I would come and tell you about the situation, instead of taking care of it on my own," he replied with an arched eyebrow.

"Clockwork," the Head Observant said after a moment. "Are you still familiar with the Banished One? I assume you remember him."

"Of course," he replied. "Unlike the rest of you, he thought the best way to lead the humans and ghosts down the proper path was to interfere directly in their lives. He believed the Council should have made their presence known to the worlds, and ruled over them like gods. He was very found of the thought of punishing the wicked, believing fear was the best way to control someone, and that compassion should be reserved only for the ones who deserved it. He was locked away for his ideas, on a dead planet with his powers drained so he couldn't escape."

"He has though," the Head Observant said. "Six months ago, there was a strange surge of power in the reality we had left him in. We went to investigate, only to see he was gone. We have been looking for him, however, he's been keeping to the shadows."

"And I wasn't informed?" he asked.

"We assumed because of you omniscience you were already aware of the situation," he was told. "It was our concern, not yours. Though, if you were in fact unaware that this had happened, or in fact would happen, it seems your foresight has been failing you more than you thought."

Clockwork's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Typical of them to put the blame on him when they'd been the ones to screw up. But still... the Head Observant had a point. His knowledge should have known no bounds. Wouldn't he have been able to see the Banished One escape long before it had ever even happened?

"We will take this into consideration in our search," the Head Observant said after a moment. "We thank you for bringing this to our attention. Now, you may go back to your domain."

"Do you have any orders for me?" he asked.

"Oh yes, of course," the Observant replied. "See to it that that everyone is back in their own worlds, and that Phantom is sealed back into his prison of course."

"Actually," Clockwork said. "I can't do that. I promised him his freedom if he helped retain the Quill."

"You what?"

"I told him if he could help, I would release him," he answered. "I knew Danny was going to need assistance, and he was the perfect one for the job. Recently, in my observations, he's shown me that he still has parts of what made him that heroic young man inside of him. I think he can be reformed, and his uses for good are much better than him staying in that container for the rest of eternity."

"Clockwork, you are going to go back to your domain and you are going to seal up Phantom," the Head Observant said levelly. "We will see to this affair on our own. For now, you do not have your powers, and are not currently fit to be in service. Take care of your recent decision, and wait for us to decide what to do."

"Shouldn't you get the Quill at least?" Clockwork asked, irritation barely hidden in his voice.

"This takes some consideration first. If the Banished One is unable to be seen by you, than we have no real way to predict what his next action or his plan may be. If we rushed in too soon, he could easily slip to another realty and hide. He'd know we were after him and he might panic, something that could cause him to try to take drastic measures to avoid capture. If he thinks he is safe, he will eventually reveal what he is planning. Trying to capture him right now, with so little information on what he wants, and even how he reattained his powers is not a good idea. We need more information."

Clockwork frowned but turned away from them and proceeded to leave before the Head Observant spoke once more.

"Clockwork, we know you are sometimes the type to do what you see as best, instead of what we deem you should do. We trust your judgment, but this time you can't help us. Don't be rash, and just do as we say. Phantom is a wild card we can not afford to have in our deck. You have no way to guarantee he's safe. If you really wish to redeem him, do it later."

"He won't trust me twice," the Time Master replied.

"Well, we hardly consider that much of a loss."

Clockwork found himself scowling as he left. It wasn't often that the Council could irritate him so easily. Was it just because this time he couldn't claim he knew better than they did?

#---------#

"They would have us do nothing?" Opal asked softly. "The Council knows there is a threat and they would have to take no action but to sit here and wait?"

"Not exactly," Clockwork said and cast a meaningful glance at Dan. The ghost was sitting away with Samantha in another corner, talking. He'd rebuked any questions in order to talk to his niece first, but he knew the other ghost was probably getting suspicious. His practically snarling at Samantha was proof enough of that.

"So he was never to earn his freedom?" Opal asked and sighed. "It does seem dishonest, but their orders were clear. Acting against them does seem unwise. Shall I... retrieve the Thermos?"

"No," he said suddenly. "No, I told him he could earn his freedom, he's going to earn it."

Opal looked at him confused for a moment before frowning softly.

"You really believe his chances to reform are so good?" she asked. "You are going to refuse the Council and let him go free?"

"The Council thinks whatever harm gets done can just get fixed later. As if it never happened," Clockwork replied. "They want to handle this themselves. Even if I hadn't released him, they wouldn't have wanted anyone else involved. And even if I had known the Banished One was missing, they wouldn't have allowed me to do anything about it. They're still my employers. They see themselves above me. Catching one of them, even a heretic to their beliefs, would be a blow to their egos."

"So they are taking this course of action for pride," she sighed. "While we, their servants, must simply wait for the problem to be fixed by those those other than us. Uncle, I can not blame you for not agreeing with this." She clucked her tongue and smirked at him. "If I may, how exactly is it that we will be defying them?"

He chuckled.

"I was that obvious?"

"Uncle, I have never known you to lie down in defeat," she said with a smile. "When Father was away, you were the one who cared for me until I could care for myself. I would not abandon you now. Simply tell me what I must do, and you know I would be glad to carry your ideas to fruition."

"The Library is still a target," Clockwork replied. "We can't wait for him to act though. We need to find him and get the Quill back."

"What about his apparent aversion to your power?" Opal asked. "Is there some way that he may have developed an immunity? You could easily stop him without such problem usually, but I have to wonder on why you were blind to his escape."

"So am I," Clockwork admitted. "That's why you are going to starting reading the world he was trapped in."

"But a dead world... Uncle, a book stops writing once it truly ends. There would be nothing to find."

"It's only truly dead if there's nothing left to document. Don't you thinking sticking someone in it would be something? It was called the Conticinium world. One of the first to fall. Find it and start reading. He'll be in there, I'm sure of it."

"And what will you be accomplishing in the meantime?" she asked.

"Well, Danny was disappointed about not being able to help," he said then chuckled again. "I'm about to fix that for him. I'll take Phantom. I don't want him getting stir crazy. Samantha will stay with you."

"You're worried," she accused.

"With her here, I won't be as much," he replied. "We won't be gone long."

She gave him a sudden hug, taking him a bit off guard. He saw the other two look over in confusion, wondering what was going on.

"Swear to me you will do your best to stay from harm's way,"she whispered. "I would not be able to stand it if anything foul were to happen to you."

"You're worried," he repeated back to her, only to get a swift nod. He sighed. He didn't think he'd ever had someone worry about him before. He supposed Opal could only trust in him so much right now. "I promise nothing will happen."

"How can you be sure?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Well, I do have a pretty good track record," he replied and caused her to laugh softly.

"I trust you," she said. "Please come back unharmed."

He nodded and looked over to Dan.

"Come on, we're leaving."

"Oh, I'm allowed to partake in the party now?" he asked sarcastically.

"We're getting Danny. Seems sending him home yet wasn't necessary," Clockwork informed him. "Samantha, if you don't mind staying a bit longer, I want you to stay with Opal. She's going to be looking for some answers on our thief."

"So it was an Observant?" the goth queen asked.

"You seem surprised."

"Of course not," she replied and crossed her arms. "But who was he? You haven't exactly been very clear with us."

"An Observant whose beliefs were more hands on than the others. A fire and brimstone type. He was banished a long, long time ago," Clockwork explained. "Seems he's escaped, and the Council wants to handle it on their own without my, or any of your, help."

"Fuck that," Dan snorted.

"I had a feeling you'd agree," Clockwork replied dryly. "We need to find out how he escaped, and how he's canceling out my powers. On top of that, we need to get the quill back and make sure he doesn't have any access to anymore worlds."

"Sounds like a complicated list," Samantha commented. "And when all that is done, what then?"

"Turn him over to the Council," Clockwork answered. "We have to do their job for them, but final judgment is in their hands. Opal will rewrite everything so the world gets fixed, hopefully before anything else bad happens. It may take a while, but we don't have the luxury to wait around. If the Banished One doesn't have a book to manipulate, I don't think he'll stay there for long. His pawns are getting assembled, and I think he's going to get ready to move soon."

"I'll be happy to help," Samantha said. "Seeing Danny again is always good enough reason to stay around for a little longer. Don't worry, if anyone comes while you're gone, I'll keep them from taking anything."

Clockwork nodded and looked to Opal.

"I'll get the book and start searching," she said before leaving for the books that had been finished a long time ago.

"Hmm, you think he'll be happy to see me?" Dan asked with a little grin.

"Just make sure you behave," Clockwork said to the ghost. "I'm keeping you with me so you won't impose on my niece any longer."

"Uh huh," he said and watched Samantha trail after the librarian. "So how pissed were they when you told them?"

"Exceedingly."

"And they ordered me back in the Thermos, right?"

Clockwork gave an annoyed sigh.  
"Yes."

"Yeah, I figured. But if you had any intention to follow any of their orders, I think you would have already. You told them to shove it, over me?"

"You're smarted than you look," Clockwork observed. "Yes, I did refuse, but not to their faces. I don't think they're going to be happy when they realize I've gone against their orders. But I'm not going back on our deal. If you help, I will leave you be."

"Why go through all of this? I know I'm powerful, but you could find others. I can't be worth all this hassle you're getting put through."

"I think you can be saved," Clockwork said simply.

"Oh, so you're trying to make me a good boy?" he asked sarcastically.

"Basically, yes. I think you have it in you, despite what you may say."

"And what if the Observers don't agree with that?" Dan asked. "What if they can't see what you claim to see?"

Clockwork gave him a level look that for some reason almost made the other ghost feel uncomfortable for a moment. It was a hard stare, and Dan was having trouble keeping his eyes focused on it.

"I'll make them see it," he replied. "Just like I am going to make you see it, whether you like it or not. I believe you can be used for good, if set in the right direction. And unfortunately for you, I'm not the type to admit I might be wrong. So deal with it."

Dan openly stared as Clockwork opened a portal for them. Where had that come from?

#---------#

"How did we both get grounded?" Danny asked Dani as they sat in his room, staring at the lack of television, game system, computer, or anything else that might be even remotely fun. There was going to be a month of this, and it was only the first night. As if Sunday wasn't bad enough with the promise of school the next morning.

Dani snorted and she lay on his bed, her head hanging upside down off of it with her ponytail tracing the floorboards.

"Well, you're grounded for two weeks for flying off and not asking if it was okay first. I'm grounded for two weeks for not trying to stop you and getting you to contact Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie to ask if it was okay first. And we're both grounded for another two weeks for not thinking to contact Sam's or Tucker's parents to get those two to ask them first," she explained.

"You would think that being superheroes would cut us some slack," he muttered.

"Yeah, but it could be worse."

"Oh yeah, how?"

"They could have known why you really left. As it is, you're still in the clear," she said as she grinned at him.

"That's true," he admitted. "They get worried pretty easily now. Guess I can't blame them though."

"So, do you think everything is okay now?" she asked. "You said Clockwork sent you all back because they said it was some Observant. Think he's got everything under wraps?"

"Probably," he said. "He's good at his job. I don't know why this all happened, but I'm sure it's done with now. I'm just glad I could help out some."

"So, what about that girl you met?"

"Who? Angela?"

Dani shook her head, causing her ponytail to swish a little. "No, I meant Sam's other side. You called her Samantha?"

"Oh," he said softly. "What about her?"

"How'd Sam react to her?"

"I don't think Sam liked to be reminded of what she almost turned into. They didn't get a chance to talk though. I imagine she's back home by now."

"Guess it just proves we all have the potential for evil in us," Dani mused.

"Yeah, I guess," Danny replied.

Dani looked over at him in curiosity and saw he was frowning a little. Flipping over on her stomach, she watched him look away and sighed.

"It's about Dan, isn't it?" she asked. "He's still worrying you?"

"He's evil, pure evil," he said. "And worst than that, he's me. Seeing what he could do, seeing what he did do. The whole thing was terrifying, not only because of what happened, but because it could have been me that did it. Something like that doesn't go away very easily. In fact, I don't think I'll ever really forget it. At least before I knew he was in that Thermos. I never would have thought Clockwork would let him go."

"Hey Danny, don't worry about it," she said. "You're you, okay? Nothing can change that but your own actions that you have full control over. Yeah, you may be a bit annoying at times, but you aren't evil."

"Who's annoying?" he shot back at her. "You little brat, you're ten times worse than I am."

She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed before he tugged her off the bed and pinned her, proceeding to tickle her mercilessly.

"Hey! Hey! Stop! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" she screamed in both delight and annoyance. "Get off!"

Danny was about to demand her to admit defeat when a sudden shudder occurred in the house. Looking up suddenly in alarm, he got off of Dani immediately. She looked at him, just as on guard as he was.

"You think the others felt that?" she asked before a large blast crashed through the wall.

Instinct and battle experience both made them go ghost and turn intangible before any of the debris could hit them, instead passing through their forms like they weren't even there. Danny looked up and groaned just as he heard shouting downstairs.

"Perfect," he said as he looked up at Skulker. "You realize that I was grounded already? That is gonna be another month."

"At the least," Dani muttered. "And our allowance for the rest of our lives, that's for sure."

"My heart bleeds for you," the hunter replied as he hung in the air. "But don't worry. Where you're going, those problems aren't going to be any kind of considerations for very long."

He raised his fist, an ecto-cannon lifting out of his arm and pointing directly at them. They quickly got out of the way as he fired, leaving several scorch marks on the floor of what was left of Danny's now destroyed bedroom.

"We got to get him away from the house," Danny said quickly to his cousin as they flew at him. "You distract him. I'm going to check on Jazz and Mom and Dad."

"Right," Dani said with a nod of her head and flew at Skulker, already throwing ecto-blasts at him. He dodged them easily enough, but right now she was more interested in driving him off than doing any real damage.

"I suppose I don't have to tell you if you don't resist you won't get hurt," he asked as he shot at her, causing her to swerve out of the way.

"Yeah, I've heard that line from you before. Loses it's effect after a few times," she snapped. "What's that creep want this time? Or is this one of your 'I want the two halfas in a cage cause I'm bored and have no life or any girlfriend to kill time with' moments?"

"That arrogance will cost you," Skulker snarled, shooting at her as she flew off. She looked over her shoulder, happy to see the hunter was following her.

Meanwhile Danny quickly phased through the living room, seeing his family, Jack and Maddie clutching guns and Jazz had her hands a Fenton Thermos.

"Where's Dani?" Maddie asked quickly. "Whats going on?"

"Ghost attack," Danny said quickly. "Jazz, Thermos!"

"Catch," she said and tossed it to her little brother, who caught it quickly and clipped it to his belt.

"Danny! Come back!" Jack yelled as his son flew off again through the wall. "Jazz, get in the basement where it's safe. Your mother and I will help Danny."

"But-"

"Interesting, I never would have thought half my job would be done for me. But one of the many rules of war, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The Fentons all looked around suddenly before Angela smacked Jack in the neck, effectively dropping him before blasting Maddie square in the chest. The woman stumbled for a second before Angela kneed her in the stomach and turned around, only to have an ecto-gun shoved in her face.

"Who are you?" Jazz asked as she too got on the offensive.  
"The enemy," she replied. "Poor parents, half asleep, awoken suddenly to an attack. And sadly, I have a feeling I have more experience fighting humans than they probably have fighting ghosts."

"I doubt it," Jazz snorted.

"Well, I have more than you, that's for sure,"Angela snarled before ducking down and swinging her legs under the surprised teen. She hit the floor with a gasp before her arm was wrenched behind her back and her face was slammed into the floor. "Please tell them when they wake up, that I am sorry. They can feel free to hunt me when this is all over."

"Who are you?" Jazz grunted.

"It doesn't matter. Not anymore," Angela whispered before Jazz's mind quickly went dark.

End of Chapter Eight

Blegh, I have to say, this is probably not my favorite chapter that I've ever produced. Rewritten three times, I tried my best to remember the good stuff but sadly it just wasn't really with me. I'm sorry, but the overall plot was delivered so I guess I can only complain so much. I can promise you the next one is going to much better. Vlad is finally making an appearance. Woot!

Oh, and the names for the worlds. Yes I finally got around to actually writing out what they were called. It would have been too confusing not to. As I'm sure you all probably noticed, they're Latin and here is their meaning for those who are interested.

_Latrocinium=_mercenary service.

_Arbustus= _planted with trees.

_Conticinium_=first part of the night.

Well, please review. It will be appreciated.


	9. True Enemy

Ah, chapter nine. Another chapter filled with tons of actions and ass-kickery. What could be better?

I hope everyone had a kick ass 4th of July. I myself had a nice little celebration with my dad while he was visiting me (living in different cities due to my college life, you see). We went and had some nice B-B-Q and some fun on the beach. Sadly, he had to leave before it got dark cause it's a long drive home, so I just spent the night on my porch with a pitcher of lemonade and typing away at my computer while I watched some fireworks. Celebrate your country by blowing up a piece of it, as quoted on the Simpsons. ^_^ An excellent show when you want some silliness in your life.

So, I think everyone knows by now that I don't own Danny Phantom. I am however thinking about buying the DVDs online since I heard a rumor they were out now. I will have to check that out when I have some spare cash.

Chapter Nine: True Enemy

Angela watched the fight between the hulking unknown ghost and Danny. There was another involved, looking almost identical to the young man she'd met and betrayed almost a day ago now. She wondered briefly what she should do about her then shook her head. She hadn't received any orders to take out anyone but Danny. Anyone else would just be subdued if she had to.

She had to admit, she'd been surprised when she'd learned what Danny really was. A human who could turn into a ghost, it was really quite rare. She'd never even heard of anything like that in her world. The creature that called himself a god had told her it was a very unique power, one he'd gotten in an accident he'd had when he was younger.

She'd planned to take care of him while he was a human, to sneak into his bedroom and do away with him before he could transform and fight her. It was a cowardly move, but it's not like morals had ever helped her survive her world. Besides, dying while asleep was a pretty decent way to go in Angela's mind.

The plan had been blown to hell when that other ghost had shown up though. He was a powerful one, she could tell just from looking at him, or at least the armor he was sporting was. Either way, he was taking care of the two rather quickly.

Angela imagined it took some effort for Danny to be in his ghost form, and as far as she had seen, hadn't been in a human one once in her world. She couldn't blame him, as dangerous a place as it was. She could see his fatigue though. He was quickly slowing down in the fight, and the worry on the his look-a-like's face was showing that she was getting distracted quickly by his condition.

The mercenary wasn't surprised when Danny got blasted into unconsciousness, slipping out of his ghost form and quickly plummeting to the ground. The girl tried to save him, only to get hit in the back before they were both snared in an ecto-net that shot from the ghost's arm, catching the two now human kids right before they splattered all over the sidewalk.

Ecto-energy flared in her hands, ready to blast the unknown ghost and claim his prize before she stopped suddenly. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, but she wanted to know why this guy was after Danny and that girl. From what she'd been told, there wasn't any kind of war going on here right now, so why would this kid get attacked out of the blue like that? She'd been told he was some kind of hero to his own world, but she still wanted to know more.

"Oh, screw it," she muttered and flew after the ghost as he left. She had to admit, she had curiosity about Danny and what kind of place this was. And it wasn't like it really mattered how quickly she took the boy out as long as she did it soon.

Staying close enough to where she could keep her eye on the ghost ahead of her, she tried to stay back far enough that she wouldn't attract his attention. Even invisible, she had a feeling something in that suit could detect her, and she didn't want to have to explain to a probably very hostile ghost why she was following him. At least, not yet until she knew she had the upper hand on him and her curiosity was settled.

She slowed down when she saw him fly to what she could tell immediately was a mansion. Posh and sleek looking, it practically radiated taste and money. She furrowed her brow in confusion. If there was anything she would say that hulking ghost represented, it certainly wasn't that. What the hell was going on here?

She noticed him look over his shoulder suddenly and she quickly zipped behind a tree. Could he see her? More importantly, h_ad_ he seen her? She risked a look and saw that he was gone and cursed under her breathe.

"Guess I got to find him now," she muttered to herself. "Fuck. I should have shot him when I had the goddamn chance."

Slipping past the tree, she flew up to the building and tentatively touched the wall. Nothing was stopping her from slipping inside, but she was apprehensive for some reason. The last place she had been at had been packed with plenty of anti-ghost equipment. It was only the fact that they hadn't been expecting an attack that she'd been able to get in and subdue them so easily. She didn't think her good fortunes would hold so well twice in a row. Still, she didn't sense anything was amiss.

Going inside, she looked around. From the looks of it, she was in a sitting room that was just as nice looking inside as it was out. The carpet, walls, even the furniture looked more expensive than anything she'd ever paid for, more along the lines of what the politicians she'd worked for had had in their homes.

She smirked and turned herself visible. Suddenly this looked to be a lot more fun.

"Show time," she said as energy flared around one of her fists. "Guess it's time to smoke the little rich rat out."

She shot a blast at the second pair of doors, shattering the entrance to bits in mere moments. Pieces of wood and mortar flew through the air as the now large hole in the wall smoked lightly. She walked casually through it into a larger room, kicking aside a piece of wood carelessly.

"Now lets see who comes running," she muttered.

She didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately she heard footsteps running towards the room and looked to her left to see an elderly looking gentlemen entering the room. Well, he looked old at first glance. Grey hair with a white streak in the middle, she was actually surprised that he looked pretty youthful besides his hair. She'd guess his late thirties or early forties, tops. Dressed in a very well-to-do manner, she had a feeling the suit he was wearing cost more than she had made in a month in her work.

She guessed this place belonged to him instead of the ghost she'd seen earlier. Which meant that ghost probably worked for this guy. He didn't really look like the type to get his hands dirty either.

In other words, he was probably some spineless rich bastard. Absolutely no threat to her, but easy to get what she wanted from.

"I assume you don't have an appointment?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," she said as she started to approach him casually.

"Do I know you?" he continued in an interested manner.

"I doubt it."

"Do you... know me?"

"Not really," she replied before she got close enough to touch him. She grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall before snarling in his face. "Where's the boy?"

"I'm afraid he's being seen to for the moment," he said smirking, not looking at all threatened by her. "I can entertain you though."

Her eyes widened in shock as two dark circles enveloped the man, revealing a much less feeble seeming ghost.

"Shit," she muttered before he drove a punch into her stomach crudely. Her grip slackened from the blow and a fist slammed into her face, sending her crashing into the floor. She barely rolled onto her feet in time before he blasted the carpeting where she'd been mere moments ago. "God dammit! What the fuck are you?"

"Since you don't seem to know me, young lady," the blue skin ghost said, floating several inches off the floor, "allow me to introduce myself. I am Vlad Masters, but you can call me Plasmius."

She dodged another shot sent her way, firing back at him only to have it deflected by a shield.

"Fucking ass," she muttered to herself. 'Great, too half ghosts in one day. So much for rare.'

"Since I was so polite as to tell you who I was," he voiced behind her, causing her to whirl around in shock, only to get grabbed by the front of her shirt, lifted above his head, and thrown into a wall, "why don't you tell me who you are? I don't mind guests, but I prefer they at least be invited."

She looked up at him as she moved a little in cracked wall and saw two of him. She had a feeling it had nothing to do with any kind of vision problem. He could duplicate. Only really powerful ghosts could pull that off. She had to wonder, were half humans more powerful for some reason, or was this guy just really someone she didn't want to mess with?

"The name is Angela," she said as she got to her feet roughly. "I'm here for Danny. Where is he?"

"Oh, have you a problem with my son too? Well, I'm afraid he's only mine to mess with," he replied with a smile.

"Son?" she asked. She thought that lumbering oaf back at Danny's house had been his father. At least, that's what she'd been told when she'd been informed where to find him.

"You have power though," he continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Care for a job?"

She was sure he hadn't been expecting the blast shot at him, catching the duplicate and effectively destroying it.

"Fuck you," she snarled. "The last thing I need is one more fucking asshole who thinks they can order me around. I had enough of that in war, and I'm getting sick of it with that fucking so-called god! Now you tell me where Danny is so I can kill him or I will cause you fucking hell, you got it?"

His eyes narrowed at her.

"Kill my Daniel?" he asked, his voice getting to a very low and dangerous growl. "No one, not even my servants threaten him. And his life doesn't belong to anyone but me."

She'd realized she'd said the wrong thing a moment too late, ecto-energy hitting her, slamming her back into the already crumbling wall. Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore the pain of the continuous onslaught he was pouring on her. She needed to concentrate. Gasping, she was able to phase through the wall and slipped down through the floor to the room below, clutching the stitch in her chest.

"Damn, that mother fuckers strong," she hissed angrily. She looked around quickly, taking in her surroundings. A wine cellar, but that looked to be about all. Nothing to help her, but she hadn't really been expecting it. "Dammit! Where is that kid?"

"Should I ask why you're intending to harm my son?" Plasmius asked as he slipped through the floor after her. "Or do you want to use your last words on something else?"

"Suck it," she snapped and fired a blast at him. He merely turned intangible so it passed through him.

"Did you really expect that to do any good?" he asked.

"If I was aiming at you, no," she said with a smirk. "But luckily, it's what was behind you."

Confused, he turned around, but saw nothing more than some wine bottles that had gotten shattered. Smirking at his exposed back, she powered up with both her arms and fired at him with everything she had, pleased when she heard his shocked yell and saw him fall to the floor.

"Idiot," she muttered as she walked up to him and nudged him with her boot. A hand grabbed her ankle suddenly and wrenched her feet from out from beneath her, causing her to gasp as her head made full contact with the crude floor.

"OW! God dammit!" she yelled as she looked up at him, pushing herself backwards with one hand as he stood and clutching the back of her head with the other. "Fucking bastard!"

"Language Miss Angela," he reprimanded tauntingly as he leaned over her. "You hardly give your namesake justice."

"Army does that to you," she snarled and and used both her boots to kick him squarely in the chest. He gave a started oomf and she scrambled up, quickly taking off and flying back up to the first floor and ran into a hallway at random.

"Great! I've got the vampire-looking, parental figure from HELL after me, at least one more ghost that I may have to fight through who looks like he had more firepower than a tank, and I have no idea where the fuck this kid is," she snarled to herself as she ran. "How in the world could this possibly get more fucked up?"

She turned a corner sharply, wondering where the hell she should go. Deciding just to do her best to get this over with like she should have done before, she turned herself intangible and flew through the walls, sure she'd find something faster if she searched this way. Ten minutes of nothing and she was starting to get frustrated. She hadn't run into Plasmius again, but she hadn't seen hide or hair of Danny either. She would have thought she was wrong about him being here, except for the fact that Plasmius had outright admitted to it, even if he hadn't told her his location.

"Damn," she muttered and looked around. The room she was in right now looked to be a kitchen, dark in the night and only a single light that was above the stove was on. Not a damn thing in here that could help her.

"Time for hide and seek is over, little mouse," Plasmius said as arms suddenly wrapped around her throat and stomach, pulling her back against him as she tried in vain to wrench away. Something metallic clicked around her throat, shocking her violently as she tried to phase out of his grasp. He let her go and she fell gracelessly to her knees on the white and black checkered tile floor, coughing and clutching at her neck.

"What the hell is this?" she rasped as she felt a thin strip of metal around her throat, feeling suspiciously like a collar.

"Just a little invention of mine," he informed her and morphed back to his human side. "Something I've been working on, and you seemed to be the perfect guinea pig. You see, it's suppose to keep halfas like me from being able to transform. The second it senses any kind of ghostly energy, it immediately kicks on and delivers a rather nasty shock. I'm not entirely sure what the effects will be on you since you're already a ghost, but I wouldn't suggest trying to use any of your powers or try to remove it."

"I take it you invented this for the boy?" she asked. "What a loving father."

"Well, boys need discipline," he said with a sigh. "Unfortunately my Little Badger has yet to see the light, but I'm ever an optimistic."

"You sound like a moron," she muttered before she was shocked again. "FUCK! God dammit! Do you have any idea how sick I am of that shit? I didn't use my powers this time either!"

"Oh, sorry," he replied, though he didn't sound apologetic at all. He held up a remote for her to see and she scowled. "Forgot to tell you I had a switch too."

She scowled at him. Oh, enough of this bullshit!

"I think that toy of yours has a major design flaw," she said as she stood shakily.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yeah, it doesn't stop me at all!" she snarled at him before punching him in the face. She caught the control in her hand and crushed it, glaring at him. A painful spark gave off at her neck, but that was about it.

"You still can't use your powers," he said as he quickly transformed back to Plasmius. She snorted.

"Sure I can. It just shocks me whenever I try it," she explained. "And luckily as a soldier, I already know what to do about pain."

"Whats that, my dear?" he asked, sounding amused.

"I just deal with it!" she snarled before shooting at him, catching him surprised before she frantically searched for the clasp as the pain shot through her. Gritting her teeth, she tried her best to ignore it, even as she felt like her body was getting stabbed over and over again by tiny, but very sharp needles. She gasped as she was finally able to find what she was looking for and wrenched it off of her neck, throwing it to the ground. She blasted it to pieces out of spite just before her hair was grabbed and she was wrenched forward into Vlad's knee. She gasped loudly as the impact hit her stomach, already tender from the electrocutions, and time seemed to slow down for her as she doubled over on his leg. She coughed out a bit of green blood before slipping off him and crumbling down on the floor, her mind quickly loosing consciousness.

"Well," he huffed. "At least I know that collar has a bit of a design flaw. I'll have to see about fixing that... after I rebuild it that is."

He looked down at the woman, irritated by this whole mess. He could only guess this was the ghost that Skulker had reported had been following him to Vlad. Whoever she was, she'd been a hassle to have to deal with. Not to mention, how was he going to explain to any construction workers about the mess she'd caused in order to rebuild the destroyed parts of his mansion? Well, he could always claim some evil ghost had attacked him before he'd been able to escape. It was closer to the truth than his usual lies went anyway.

"The things I have to put up with," he sighed and shook his head. "Wonder what I should do with you?"

It not like he could leave her in the middle of his kitchen, no doubt to be angry and vengeful when she woke up. No, that would be asking for disaster. He certainly didn't want to simply dump her back in the Ghost Zone either. He wanted to know who she was and why she apparently wanted to kill his self-appointed son. After all, its not like he didn't now about his Little Badger having enemies, but he usually knew who they all were and exactly how threatening they were to Danny.

This woman had just come out of left field.

Sighing again, he stooped down and picked her up bridal style. He phased down several floors to the lab, pleased to see at least Danny and Danielle were still knocked out. Skulker was watching over them, a glowing green ecto-blade slipping out of it's slot before retracting, popping out and going back in, over and over. The hunter was obviously irritated, his catch being so close but unable to do anything about it. Vlad could really respect the ghost's self-control, being able to bring what he considered his prey to Vlad and not do anything to the boy. Skulker proved that not only that good help could in fact be found, but when found, should be paid well in compensation for their frustration to keep them in the category of good help.

"Was she the one who followed you?" he asked as he landed gracefully on his feet, morphing back to Vlad Masters with her still in his arms.

Skulker looked over, giving her a thorough look over.

"Yes," he said after a moment and nodded. "I didn't notice her until I was here, and then she disappeared so quickly I wasn't sure where'd she'd gone off to."

"Skulker, Skulker," Vlad said and clucked his tongue. "You should know better than to let strange ghosts follow you home."

Skulker pouted a little and Vlad rolled his eyes. How a man like that could sulk was so well was beyond him.

"I thought she might be a friend of yours," he said with a shrug.

"She's more your type to spend time with honestly," Vlad said and realized suddenly he was still holding her. "Anyway, take her. Put her in an anti-ghost cage. I don't want her escaping at any means. She's a hassle to deal with, and right now I have other things to do."

Skulker took her and did as he was ordered, leaving her in a small cage and locked the door, green energy crackling about it almost immediately. Assured that was taking care of, he turned back to watch Vlad at work.

Both Danny and his clone had been cuffed to the wall. The billionaire didn't give much notice to the girl, instead reaching out and softly patted the boy on the cheek.

"Time to wake up Little Badger," he said almost soothingly. It would have sounded convincing if he wasn't smirking so much.

Danny groaned a little and opened his yes slowly. It took a few moments to focus properly before he saw Vlad and groaned both in annoyance and from the slight pain racking his brain.

"Oh jeez," he muttered. "Seriously, one week, one week without the attempted kidnapping. Is that really too much to ask for?"

"If it makes you feel better son, this one wasn't exactly just attempted," Vlad replied with a chuckle. His comment earned him a glare, but he didn't pay it any mind.

"Let me guess," Danny snorted. "You want me to join you or you'll make me pay? You want to kill my father or you'll make me pay? You want to buy the Packers and roll around on them or you'll make me pay? Let me know when I get close."

Skulker coughed loudly behind Vlad, trying to mask his sudden snicker and making the billionaire's eye twitch. Insolent little...

"Since you insist on trying my patience as usual, I'll dispense with the usual banter. Actually, my original purpose for bringing you here can wait. I have something I want to ask you first."

"Oh?" he asked. "What's that, Fruitloop?"

Ignoring the cliché insult, he stepped back slightly to let Danny see the woman who had attacked the mansion earlier.

"Who is she?" he asked, mildly curious.

"Angela?" Danny cried in shock.

"Actually, I know her name already. I was hoping for a little more information than that."

"What did you do to her? Let her go Vlad!"

"Do you know this woman was trying to find you to kill you?" Vlad asked curiously. Danny certainly wouldn't have given that reaction for one of his enemies under normal circumstances.

"I... can't say that surprises me," Danny muttered, hanging his head a little. Guess things on Clockwork's end wasn't entirely wrapped up after all. He had to wonder how Angela had gotten there in the first place. "She... she's just getting used. Leave her alone."

"Really, used? How so? She mentioned something about a god? Ring any bells?" Vlad pushed a little.

Danny snarled.

"I'm not telling you anything. You let me and Dani go right now!" he snapped at him. "I'm getting sick of your games."

Vlad sighed.

"You know, I really do hate it when you act like this," he said. "I don't think I ask for much. Just a chance to show you how good a father I can be, shower you with adoration, that kind of thing. I ask for so little too."

"You want me to hate my dad and let you shack up with my mom," Danny said and made a face. "Seriously, how is that asking for so little?"

"I only want what is my due Daniel," Vlad said. "I would think after over a year of getting to know me, you would understand that by now."

If Danny was going to throw back any kind of retort, he was interrupted by the sudden explosion from the ceiling. He turned his head suddenly to shield his eyes as best he could as lights burst in showers of sparks and wires whipped around, broken from the machines they were attached to. A large chunk of the ceiling fell and crashed onto the floor, close to Angela's cage as the ghost's eyes snapped opened.

"Wha...?" she murmured and quickly sat up and looked around, wondering what was going on, and why her body hurt so much.

"Do you have any sense of control?" Clockwork asked Dan who was laughing like an idiot.

"Are you kidding?" he said and let out a Ghost Wail at Skulker who looked like he was ready to get on the offensive, the sound reverberating off the walls and and effectively destroying half the mechanical suit without any real effort. "I mean, I've been wanting to do in ol' Vlad for years now. Don't tell me I'm not entitled to my fun."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

The two ghosts looked over to see a very pissed of looking Plasmius glaring at them and Clockwork rubbed at his forehead. Things could never be simple, not with this crew involved.

"Oh, very well," Clockwork said to Dan, who didn't look like he needed permission anyway. "Just be sure not to hurt or kill him."

"Yeah, yeah," Dan said.

Clockwork moved over to the a shocked looking Danny, smiling wryly.

"Can you go for ten minutes without getting in some kind of trouble?" he asked as he raised his staff. The cuffs around Danny's arms and leg glowed purple for a moment before popping open, dropping Danny to his feet as he rubbed his wrists.

"I guess I should thank you for that," he said. "Quick, get Dani. I'll see to Angela."

"Danny!" Clockwork called but the boy had already starting to run to the female ghost, going ghost and dodging a blast that almost sizzled his hair. The Time Master sighed and released the girl clone, taking him in her arms as she opened her eyes groggily.

"Huh?" she asked and looked up at him. "Santa?"

The Time Master looked at her confused. Oh, the beard. Well, that and she was still half-conscious.

"Shh," he said to her. "Relax. I've got you."

"Angela," Danny said as he tried to figure out how to open the woman's cage. "Are you okay? What happened? WOAH!"

She lowered her fist, angry that her blast hadn't been able to make it through the bars. Still, it had been close enough that'd she almost gotten him.

"What are you doing?" Danny yelled at her. "I'm not your enemy!"

"Let me give you a word of advice kid," she snarled at him. "Don't ever consider a mercenary an ally. The second the other side can top your offer, they're bound to fuck you over."

"You're crazy!" he shouted. "I want to help you!"

"You want to help me, then you can lay down and fucking die!" she yelled back at him. "I don't care what it takes! I'm going to kill you and save my city, and all those poor people!"

"The thing you're working for is an Observant!" Danny tried in vain to reason with her. "It's using you. He's probably the whole reason why your planet is the way it is!"

"FUCK THE REST OF THE WORLD!" she screamed at him. "Fuck the whole goddamn multiverse! That god or Observant or whatever the hell it is can have it all! Everything can all burn to the ground for all I care, as long as they survive!"

Danny looked at her shocked as if she had just personally condemned them all. He shook his head. There wasn't any talking her out of this. She was the enemy now, and she didn't have any wish to accept Danny's help. After all, her agreeing to partner up with him last time was what had put her in such a bad situation before. He wouldn't be surprised if she thought this was all his fault.

Vlad Masters crashed roughly a couple feet away from Danny, interrupting his thoughts and he looked up suddenly to see a smirking Dan dusting his hands off. The older ghost looked thoroughly satisfied with himself and all the destruction he'd caused, making Danny once again wonder if Clockwork had been thinking straight when deciding to let him out.

"Danny," the Time Master called over to him as he let a slightly shaken, but steady, Dani down to her feet. He waved his hand, a portal opening, and the young hero ran over, more than happy to be getting away from the mansion. He didn't even feel a bit of sympathy for Vlad from the totaled home. The jerk had more than deserved it.

Angela watched them disappear, unable to do anything to stop them. Letting out a roar of rage, she reached past the bars and grabbed Vlad's collar, pulling his back against the bars and letting the harmful energy course through him as he yelled. Her body was starting to go numb, but he didn't have to know that.

"How do I get out of this fucking cage?" she shouted at him.

"There's a code!" he yelled. "Voice activated."

"Then say it! Let me out!"

"M-Madeline Masters!" he shouted, the door swinging open and the power cutting off almost immediately. She let him go, breathing deeply and getting out of the cage.

"Fuck," she snarled as she looked around herself. "FUCK!"

It was very tempting just to turn around and kill the asshole behind her, but she was barely in any good shape herself. She had to track that kid down, and now figure out a way to get to him when he was surrounded by people to help him.

A sudden laughing made her turn around suddenly, seeing, to her surprise, that Vlad was the one doing it. She arched an eyebrow at him, wondering how crazy this guy really was.

"Gods, Observants, a multi-verse?" he asked as he looked at her. "You certainly did promise to be the pot of gold, didn't you?"

"Fuck off," she said and backed up a few steps. "I don't know what you want, but I'm not interested."

"Oh, of course not," he said and waved her off. "Go on your merry way. I think you've proven you're no real threat."

She snarled at him, but shook her head. What the hell did he know? Going intangible, she quickly flew off out of the lab and away from the mansion, trying to plan what she should do next.

Vlad frowned, his happy facade barely making him feel any better about any of this. Danny was gone, his lab was in ruins, and he'd been had by a woman in definite need of a good dose of pharmaceutical drugs. Still, some of that information she'd shouted out at Danny had sounded very intriguing.

"Are you still awake?" he asked the busted suit of armor housing Skulker. He received an angry sounding groan and smirked. "Don't worry, I have spare suits for you. I always do."

"Great," a grumbled reply sounded.

"Well, this night certainly hasn't gone the way I planned, but it certainly has proven fruitful," Vlad mused out loud. "I wonder who those ghosts were. One of them... I could have sworn looked a little bit like my Little Badger. In any case, I think I have some work to do finding out."

End of Chapter Nine

Heh heh heh. I love writing Vlad Masters. As much fun as it is to portray him as a good guy (usually in love with Danny ^_^), writing him as a villain is just as satisfying. I have to admit, I probably enjoyed Angela and he kicking the crap out of each other more than I should have. Well, the fight was mostly in his favor, but she got her licks in too.

And now he has some inkling that something is going on! GASP! The plot thickens! As if it weren't complicated enough as it was. lol

I feel a little bad for poor Skulker. I like the guy, I really do. But he got next to no time in this chapter and he was pawned so quickly by Dan I wanted to hit myself, even if it was to continue the chapter smoothly. Don't worry though. He will be making more appearances and he will be much cooler the next time, promise. This is my first time writing him, so I'm still trying to get a feel for his personality.

Well, review if you liked it. Review if you didn't. I like to hear comments no matter what they may say. It all helps my writing I think.


	10. Bargaining Chip

First, I've got to say that I'm sorry this didn't come out on Saturday. It's been a bit of a busy week and whenever I had a spare moment, I was just trying to relax. Luckily things have calmed down a bit and I've been able to sit down and write this.

Also, I want to get this out of my system before anything else. 10th CHAPTER! WOO HOO! I'M AWESOME!

Heh. Sorry, I'm just glad I got so far in so little time. It's been just a month, I'm already relatively far into it. This makes me happy really, 'cause usually I'm one of those readers that takes a month or two to always update. I knew for a story this long that that wasn't gonna work out, I'd loose interest long before I got even half-way. This is easily going to be the longest story I have ever done, so I know I need to stay on top of it if it's ever going to thrive properly.

Currently I have a mini Ghost Writer pumping me full of inspiration for this story, a mini Clockwork poking my constantly to remind me I can't afford to waste a day doing nothing since I'm trying to balance so many projects at the same time, and a mini Dan Phantom whispering in my ear about how the the world needs more Danny Phantom yaoi. Yep, that's who I consider my muse for my lusty little one-shots, especially since they're all so kinky. Aside from the foot tall hallucinations harassing me all the time, I don't own Danny Phantom (show or character). I do however own my hallucinations. Hartman can't sue me for them. They're mine and I'm entitled to my crazy tendencies.

So there. Nyah.

Chapter Ten: Bargaining Chips

"So, would you care to explain to me why that you not only failed to kill Danny Phantom, but now he is also back with his allies, he knows you're after his life and thus knows I'm after his life, and it wasn't even him that defeated you, but a completely different ghost?"

Angela didn't look the Observant in the eye. In fact, her back was to him. She had her arms crossed as she overlooked Amity Park, trying to think of her next move. This wasn't as simple as going to try to kill the boy like before. She needed a plan, a way to get to him without evoking the wrath of several different ghosts, and since her opportune moment had blown up in her face, she needed to be a bit more subtle about it.

"Is it safe for you to be here?" she asked eventually. There was no point in explaining. He knew without her saying a word to him. She really shouldn't have been surprised. She had a feeling this lousy thing had known what was going on even before she had. It had to have been watching her at least, something that made her skin crawl when she thought about it.

"They won't sense me. It's simple projection."

She arched her eyebrow then shook her head. She didn't really care. He was a god, end of story. Honestly, a mere day in his service and she was already getting sick of the way he seemed to enjoy rubbing his powers in her face.

"What exactly are you?" she asked. "What is an Observant anyway?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Simple minded cowards who were too afraid what needed to be done," he replied bitterly. "I am so much more than what they could ever hope to be. And you have not answered me."

"I haven't failed yet. I can still take him out," she stated with a sigh. She better not push it. He sounded pissed enough as it was. "There was an unforeseen attack before I could get to him. I thought if I-"

"I know what you thought," he cut off. "And the only reason I'm not bringing you back for punishment is because you have opened a very opportune door for the cause."

"What are you talking about?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder at him, confusion in her eyes.

"The one who defeated you was Vlad Masters, correct?"

The mercenary's eyes snapped open. She didn't know why, but she had a very bad feeling about admitting to that. Still, it's not as if she could lie or anything.

"I'm pretty sure that's what he said his name was," she confessed.

"Excellent. You certainly did come through."

She looked at him confused, unsure why he was praising her.

"I don't understand," she said uncertainly. "I thought you were angry that I didn't take my shot when I had it."

"Oh, I am, but what you have done regardless of any intention of yours is fruitful," it explained. "A man like him is perfect for my plans. He has a strong desire in him, and it's pushed him to great lengths. His motivation for love is strong, and can be reaped for the greater good."

"So... what, do you want me to tell him about us?" she asked, honestly a little insulted. She had no desire to go to him after the crap he'd done to her. Still, this thing she was working for obviously had something planned. Any supposed soldier would help and despite her bitter feelings as being beaten, she wasn't above admitting he was pretty strong.

She wondered if it was because of his uniqueness. Was he so strong because he was both ghost and human? Or was he powerful simply just because he was powerful? Was Danny, who was the same as Vlad apparently, just as strong? Stronger? He had to be someone to reckon with if a god was worried about him.

"No," the Observant said. "Unfortunately, he is also very prideful. I could not simply go to him and offer him the power to achieve what he wants. He is the kind of human who needs to think they are in charge if they can be made to move. A manipulator if you will, much like the people you waged war for." He snorted. "Short sighted and vain, but not an impossible quality to deal with. We'll let him think he's coming to us of his own free will and he'll be more useful to the final goal."

"Final goal?" she asked in confusion.

"Never you mind," he said. "It's hardly a consideration for you at the moment. All you need to worry about is following your orders."

So this Observer had his eyes set on Vlad, but he wasn't going to outright seek him. She had to wonder if that had been planned from the beginning or if it had just been a good opportunity that came along. She guessed it hardly mattered. It had been obvious that man was interested in what was going on, even if he couldn't possibly understand all of it. Hell, she hardly understood any of this. Though, if he did somehow manage a way to worm into things, and she saw that as very likely actually, he was going to end up as one of that damn Observant's puppets. Just like Judas... and her.

She snorted. Good. That rich pompous ass of his deserved it, she was sure.

"So what are my orders now?" she asked. "Danny is with the other ghosts. One I saw before, but I don't know who the other was. It all happened pretty fast too. I didn't really see what was going on."

"Don't you worry about lack of details," the Observant said. "That ghost was called Clockwork, a very very powerful entity. He has been taken care of to an extent, but right now someone like you would have no chance against him. For the moment, Danny is unreachable through a straight attack."

"So what now?" she asked, assuming he had a plan.

"Subterfuge," it replied.

"Subterfuge?" she repeated back at the Observant, eyebrow arched. "What, you want me to go to him and pretend I've seen the light? He'd never believe that, not now."

"No, don't lie to him about that," he said. "Simply tell him that if he surrenders, his friend's lives will be spared. They're in their homes now, no idea of what's been happening."

"You want me to kidnap a couple of children?" she asked with a frown then shrugged. "Fine. Quick question though, those kids going to live if he surrenders?"

"He won't be the type to," the Observer explained. "He'll attempt a rescue, and during battle is when he'll be struck down."

"And his friends?"

"The loose ends will be tied up. I prefer my orders to remain neat."

She nodded.

"If that's what you want," she said with a shrug. "Will this save my city?"

"Why do ask questions that have such obvious answers?"

"I like to make sure."

"You service for your city. Danny Phantom's head is all I need to have you prove your sincerity. I do not care for my followers not being true to the faith."

"Uh huh," she replied. "So, where can I find these two bargaining chips?"

#---------#

"I don't see why we have to wait for him," Dan grumbled.

"Oh hush," Clockwork said as the two floated above Fenton works, waiting for Danny. He couldn't blame the boy for wanting to go back to his parents to assure them that he was fine. He and Dani certainly had panicked when they'd seen their family unconsciousness in the living room, and the young hero had insisted that Dan not be there when the family woke up. The ghost from the future had been less that pleased with having to wait around yet again, but Clockwork agreed with the boy. The last thing they needed was a hurried explanation about an evil version of their son from the future that was currently begrudgingly helping save the universe in a twisted sort of community service program.

He certainly didn't envy Danny his circumstances in life. For some reason the boy had an uncanny knack of attracting complications to him. It was as if he was a magnet for difficulties. Then again, that could be said of almost anyone who devoted their life to making life right. No good deed goes unpunished it would seem.

"What's taking them so long?" Dan growled out.

"Be patient," Clockwork sighed. "You're acting like a child."

Dan arched an eyebrow and looked at the ghost who was currently in the form of a little kid. Snorting, he went back to watching the house.

"They aren't going to be happy about him going off to fight a war," Dan observed.

"Funny coming from you," Clockwork noted. "Concerned?"

"They'll want to come along," Dan snorted. "They'll be worried and think he needs them to keep him safe."

"Perhaps."

"You aren't going to let them, are you?"

Clockwork gave him a look. There wasn't any kind of worry on his face. Instead, he seemed pissed off and the Time Master could only chuckle.

"You think they'll get in the way," he stated. It wasn't a question.

"Of course they will," Dan snapped. "Ghost hunters they may be, but they can't go up against something like what we're facing. I barely agree to letting the boy come and you-"

"Relax, they aren't coming," Clockwork said, cutting through what would quickly become a very long and annoying tirade if he let Dan get too far into it. "They are his parents, but at the same time, they know this kind of thing is something they have to let him go and do without them. He's growing up, and they can't be there all the time. Besides, Danny isn't the type to let the ones he cares about get too far into harm's way. He is going to insist on doing this on his own."

"How do you know?"

Clockwork chuckled.

"You were that young boy once. Surely you remember how often you ran off to save the day? If they had found out about you, don't you think you would have had this sort of conversation with them a few times? This isn't the first time he's had to leave. Actually, I applaud your parents. They're much more understanding of how life works than what most people would give them credit for."

"They aren't _my_ parents," Dan said with a faint growl. "That isn't my family, and that isn't me down there dammit! My family died. They never found out."

"I realize that," Clockwork sighed. "But that doesn't mean that they aren't your flesh and blood. Who knows? Maybe someday they'll accept you too."

"I don't want to be accepted," Dan hissed. "I want my freedom, nothing else."

"Of course," the Time Master said, not giving the other ghost anything he could latch onto and bitch about next. He was actually getting a little irritated with this conversation anyway. It would be so much nicer if the violent and crude man could be silent for ten minutes and give Clockwork some peace and quiet.

He could understand the man's frustration, really he could. Dan was in a situation that he had no hope of controlling. As lost as Clockwork was in some of this, he knew Dan had to be even more in the dark about everything. For a man such as him, who had once been the strongest and most feared in his own world, to have no command over what was happening around him would of course be maddening. It was obvious that he needed to vent his feelings in order to deal with it. Still, that didn't mean that Clockwork wanted to listen to it, or felt like being on the receiving end.

"What's taking so long?" he asked again, as if wanting to start their whole conversation all over.

"I can always freeze you in time, so you don't have to wait," Clockwork offered. It hadn't been a threat, well... not really. Still, it accomplished what he'd desired. Dan said nothing more and Clockwork smiled at the peace.

#---------#

Maddie placed her cup of coffee down on the kitchen table. It had become a habit to make herself coffee when talking to Danny lately whenever he brought up ghosts. It had started shortly after she had first found out about his powers. He had disappeared in the middle of the night and she'd noticed her absence after she'd gone to wish him sweet dreams. She's rushed to the lab, gotten as much ghost hunting gear she could carry and was almost out the door before he'd flown in, a little tired but perfectly fine.

She'd wanted to cry and yell and forbid him from ever doing that to her again. Instead she led the boy into the kitchen, determined to talk things out with her maturing son. They'd sat together over coffee for hours, discussing an awkward but necessary conversation. It had actually become a little bit of a ritual for them whenever things came up that he had to take care of, and had to explain to his mother. Ghost hunting, private talks concerning Danielle, even things like how he planned to eventually balance ghost fighting and college and eventually a job.

It calmed her nerves somehow to have these normal rituals concerning the not so normal circumstances of her son's life. Sometimes she didn't understand why it was so strange to her. She and her husband had experience in the world of ghosts, were use to dealing with spectral beings and hunting them down. She accepted who son for who he was and no less.

Yet... she worried, constantly. She worried when he insisted on going out to fight with little to no back-up in order to protect his family. She worried there would be times when she wouldn't be able to help him. She worried one day her child may not come back to her.

This definitely seemed like a good time to worry too.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

Maddie looked up at her boy's concerned expression and sighed.

"It's just... a bit big," she said and looked to her husband that was quiet as well. "The thought that there are other people out there that are us. And there's someone trying to... destroy it all?"

"I'm not exactly sure what this person wants or what it's goals are," Danny admitted. "All I know is that Clockwork needs my help to stop this. Heck, I don't even know exactly whats going to happen or how long I'll even be gone. I'm so sorry for not telling everything that was going on earlier. I just..."

"You get worried," Maddie sighed. "We realize that."

"Danny, we're the parents," Jack said. "It's our job to look out for you and keep you safe, not the other way around."

"I know," Danny said. "I know. I just... don't want you to worry."

'Yet you worry about us all the time,' Maddie sighed mentally then shook her head. "I'll explain to Mr. Lancer you may be absent for a little while. Just please be careful, and if it's possible, try to inform us as things happen."

"Mom..."

"You're needed Danny," she said. "We understood that a long time ago."

"Mind you're mother and be careful Danny," Jack said and stood. "Actually, that Quill sounds rather interesting. I wonder if there's anything we can invent that works like that."

"Dad," Jazz said. "Ghosts are one thing, but can you please not try to create something that can affect life as we know it?"

Jack chuckled a little, thankfully realizing that for once maybe a crazy invention wasn't such a good idea.

"Well, don't worry son. You know we have every confidence in you," he said and grabbed the boy. "Come on, we'll get you situated with every piece of ghost fighting equipment we have!"

"Ack!" Danny choked as he was drug away quickly by a overenthusiastic Jack. "Dad, please!"

"Oh, don't worry Danny. No need to thank me."

Jazz sighed and slapped a hand to her face.

"Typical really," she muttered. "Decides to be sane for one moment and then he has to go overboard about something else mere seconds later." She stood up and followed the two out. "Guess I'll go save him from Dad."

Maddie looked over to Dani, who had stayed very quiet throughout the whole talk. She smiled lightly at the girl, but she didn't return it.

"I don't blame you for not telling us everything," she said reassuringly. "You only did what Danny asked you to do. And he was right. We would have worried..." She laughed softly. "And maybe over reacted."

"Yeah," Dani said softly. "That's not it though. I think I should go with him."

"I assumed you were," Maddie said, a little surprised. "We know what's going on now, and we can certainly handle any ghost problems while Danny and you are gone. We are professionals after all."

"He doesn't want me to," the girl said. "He thinks I'll get hurt. It's never been a problem before!"

Maddie smiled lightly at her outburst. This girl cared so much for Danny. It was painfully obvious the two were close, constantly feeling they need to protect each other from the whole world. It made them a good team, but it was also bound to bring these kind of situations up as well from time to time.

"I don't see any reason for you not to go along," she said. "Personally, I'd feel a lot better if I knew there was someone who he can rely on. You two have been a team since you came to live with us."

"Try telling that to Danny," she snorted.

"And here I thought you were stubborn enough to do what you wanted," Maddie teased, causing Dani to smile a little and flush a little in embarrassment.

"Guess I'm acting like a bit of a kid, huh?" she asked. "I mean, sulking like this."

"Yes, but you are one. It's understandable," Maddie replied and got up, walking around the table to hug the girl. "Danny worries about you, but he sometimes doesn't take into account that people worry and want to help him too. Go along with him. If anything else, it will make me feel better."

"He's not gonna like this," Dani said with a smile.

"Well, he's going to have to deal with it. Ghost boy or not, I'm still his mother. And I say you go."

Dani chuckled for a moment before frowning.

"I can't." she said. "Even if Danny didn't have a problem with it, I promised Clockwork. I have something I need to do here."

"Something?" Maddie asked.

"He's asked me to guard the book to this world," she stated. "He said he doesn't want it to fall in the wrong hands to be used against Danny. I promised I'd look after it for him."

She had agreed to watch the it. It would be pretty irresponsible to go along without at least checking with Clockwork first. After all, he had trusted her to literally protect the whole world. She'd hate to disappoint him so soon afterwards.

"Hm, I can see how that would be a problem," her aunt said.

"Well, I did promise him," Dani said with a sigh. "It's not there's not much I can do about it."

"Where is Clockwork anyway?" she asked suddenly. "You two said it was him that came for you after Skulker."

"Uh yeah," Dani said evasively. "He's just waiting for us, that's all. I think he had something he needed to check on."

"You know Jack and I would be happy to to watch it," she reassured her.

"No, that's okay Aunt Maddie," Danni said and shook her head. "It's not that I don't want to go, but I did promise to do this first. Danny can handle himself, and besides, he does have Sam and Tucker."

"Well, that's up to Sam and Tuckers parents," Maddie said, her voice suddenly a little cross. "Especially Sam's parents. You know how they feel about this."

"Yeah," Danni said. She hadn't met Mr. and Mrs. Manson many times, and she was happy for that. Chipper to a point it even freaked her out a little, they were actually pretty rude to Danny and her. They certainly didn't care much for their daughter running off to fight ghosts and they'd made their position on it clear. Not that it really stopped Sam from going off whenever she wanted to, but Dani supposed her aunt had to side with them, being a fellow parent and all that.

"Hey," Maddie said and laid a hand on her arm, "why don't we go down to the lab and check on Danny? He'll probably need to be going soon, and we really should see him off."

Dani nodded her head.

"Okay."

Making their way down to the lab, they weren't surprised to see a very enthusiastic looking Jack rummaging through several Fenton Works inventions, while Danny stood in the middle of the lab, already loaded down with several of them. Apparently Jazz had given up on trying to save her little brother, as she too looked like she was in danger of dropping the pile of electronics her father had forced upon her.

"What does he think you are, a mule or something?" she asked Danny. "You couldn't walk with all this stuff, much less fight off a whole legion of brainwashed ghosts."

"You think I don't know that Sis?" he asked back in a mutter. "Still, you have anymore luck talking sense into him?"

"Oh yeah right," she said before yet another Fenton Thermos was tossed onto her pile. "Ugh."  
Maddie giggled softly at her husband's enthusiasm. It was so amazing how he had never changed from that sweet and eager young man she had known from so long ago.

Dani looked up at her aunt's swooned expression and rolled her eyes. Adults were so weird at times.

"I guess you'll be leaving soon, huh?" she asked as she went up to Danny.

"Just as soon as Dad is distracted enough to let me escape," he said back to him, looking just the slightest bit annoyed. His clone didn't buy it. She knew he was flattered by his parents being so eager to try to help him.

"Well, I thought I'd wish you good luck," she told him. "I-"

A sudden ringing cut her off and both the young halfas looked down at Danny's pocket.

"My cell," he muttered and rolled his eyes before simply dropping the pile. Aside from some loud clanking, the stuff wasn't damaged.

"Hmm? Is something wrong Danny?" Maddie asked when she noticed him grab his phone.

"It's Tucker," he said as he looked at the number. "I wonder why he's calling so late."

He flipped it open and put it to his ear. Actually, he was planning on grabbing them before he left with Clockwork anyway.

"Hey Tucker," he said. "What's up?"

"_Daniel,"_ a voice said over the phone. One that certainly wasn't Tucker's. _"We need to talk."_

"Wait, Angela?" he yelled. "What's going on? Why do you have Tucker's phone?"

"_Actually, that's what we need to talk about,"_ Angela said. _"I've taken your friends, both of them. I'm not going to bother with the cliché 'If you want to see them alive you'll do as I say' bullshit either. Danny, you're in the way of my employer, and he wants you dead."_

"So what, you plan to use them as hostages?" he asked angrily, ignoring the concerned looks of his family.

"_Bait, actually,"_ she replied. _"The plan is to kill you when you come for them. He doesn't think you'll surrender."_

"You're damn right I'm not going to surrender!" he yelled at her. "I'm going to get them back! I don't care what it takes!"

"_I understand,"_ she replied. _"I wouldn't bother with trying to come after me in your realm though. I'll be gone long before you could find me. If you want them back, you're coming back to my world, to play the game by my rules."_

"You think a home field advantage is going to help you? I'll still beat you."

"_No. I think you facing a whole army will help me. Sorry Danny, but I'm not letting you go again. Do what I say, or throw their lives away. It's your choice."_

He heard the phone get hung up and he barely resisted the urge to throw his own against the wall.

"She'll get it for this," he snarled. "Doing all this to help her city was one thing, but kidnapping Sam?"

"Danny, what's going on?" Jazz asked.

"The ghost I told you about, Angela," he explained quickly. "She got Sam and Tucker. She's using them as bait to force me to fight her!"

"What are you going to do?" Dani asked.

"The only thing I can do. I'm going to save them," he said, quickly changing to his ghost form. "Come on Dani!"

He grabbed her hand and pulling her after him, barely giving her time to shift as well before he flew out of the lab, ignoring the shocked calls of their family. She certainly couldn't blame him for being rushed though.

"Hey, wait," she said. "I thought you wanted me to stay here?"

"I'm going to need all the help I can get," he said. "I know I shouldn't ask you, but..."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," she said as they they left the house and approached the two ghosts.

"You certainly took your-"

"She's got Sam and Tucker!" Danny said quickly, interrupting Dan. "Angela took them back to her world to try to get to me. We have to go save them!"

Clockwork looked at him levelly for a moment before nodding his head.

"We'll take care of it," he said. "We need to get back to the Library first though. We may have found some information about what's been going on."

"But-"

"I promise we'll save them," the Time Master reassured him. "But rushing isn't going to help anyone, including yourself."

"We should go in knowing everything we can," Dani said. "This may just help us stop all this for good."

"Yeah," Danny said and nodded his head. "Yeah, you have a point."

"You coming along brat?" Dan asked looking at her. He was actually a bit curious about her anyway. Danny had said something about her not existing before he had come to the future, but aside from that, he didn't know much about her.

"I have a name you know," she said to him. "Call me Dani."

"How very original," he said teasingly.

"HEY!"

"When the siblings are done bickering with each other," Clockwork said crossly. Dani looked a little sheepish, and Dan just snorted. "That's better. Come on, we need to go."

He opened a portal for them, and Danny flew through it quickly, followed by Dan. Dani caught Clockwork's cloak though and looked up at him.

"Hey, is it okay for me to come along?" she asked. "I mean, what about the-"

The Time Master pressed a finger to her lips before she could say anything.

"I have a feeling we'll need you with us more," he said. "Is it hidden away?"

She nodded.

"No one knows where it is," she said. "I... I told Aunt Maddie I needed to watch over it, but that's it."

"It will do," he said with a nod. "You are right. Hopefully we'll simply be able to end this before it goes to far."

#---------#

"I SAID LET ME GO!" Sam screamed as she fought against her captors. She kicked and wrenched her arms as hard as she could, but the ghosts simply tossed her into her cell, a bruised looking Tucker landing roughly by her side a few moments later.

"Stop making such a fucking racket," Angela muttered as slammed the barred door shut, locking them in. "Just be glad you aren't dead yet."

"Gee, that makes me loads better," Tucker mumbled as Sam growled and stood up roughly.

"This isn't going to work," she said as she made her way over to the bars. She was careful not to touch them for the ecto energy coursing through them. "Danny isn't so weak to loose to a traitor like you!"

"I'm not going to get in a god damn shouting contest with you," Angela said flatly. "You're stuck in that fucking cell, and you aren't getting out."

Sam glared at the woman as she turned around.

"You really think he's gonna keep his word?" Sam shouted at her back. "You really think he's going to give mercy to your city after the way he's treated the rest of the planet? You show me one person who he's saved!"

Angela glared a her and Sam jumped back suddenly when a blast hit the bars, hissing angrily as the energy clashed. The woman lowered her hand and strode up to the bars.

"Shut the fuck up. You don't understand anything," she hissed. "You're nothing but a stupid little bitch who never had to live in a world like mine. A nice little mansion and well off parents that you should feel lucky I didn't kill just for the hell of it. All of your 'be better person' shit doesn't count in a place where you have no choice, and you won't know anything about having to salvage what's left of it. Now be fucking quiet and behave!"

Sam glared at the mercenary as she turned her back on her prisoners and ordered the other ghosts to keep their eyes on them. Angrily, she made her way back to Tucker, who was nursing a bleeding hand. She looked at him sympathetically.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked. "It's not broken, is it?"

He shook his head.

"Just scratched up," he said. "Honestly, I'm more worried about Danny. Angela took my cell and my PDA. There's no way we can get in contact with him."

"You think your PDA could even send messages over worlds?" she asked. "I know you're good, but you aren't that good."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said sarcastically.

"Just trying to be honest," she said with a shrug.

"You're worried aren't you?" he asked, to which she frowned and her shoulders slumped.

"Of course I am," she said. "I mean, I know he'll be fine, but I..."

"Hey," he said and laid an arm on her shoulder. "It'll be okay. Danny'll be fine, and the second we're both out of here, we'll help him get the Observant or whoever's behind this."

"Really think it's an Observant that's doing all of this?" she asked.

"I guess," he said with a shrug. "I mean, it was you that said it was, wasn't it? I mean, in a way."

She rolled her eyes. Oh yeah, like that made her feel better. She shook her head. However she felt for that woman really wasn't going to help them any by dwelling on it.

Pulling her knees up to her chest and crossing her arms over her knees, she looked out at the bars and sighed.

'Please be safe Danny,' she thought.

End of Chapter Ten

Whew. Glad I was finally able to get this done. I apologize for the lack of much more than character's just catching up on what was going on, but hey, the plot has to go somewhere. ^_^

I would like to thank everyone who has been reviewing and I ask you to keep it up. I love hearing from you guys, especially concerning what you think about the story. Reviews pump me up, and make me want to get the next chapter out even faster.


	11. Preparations for War

Ah, chapter eleven. A chapter filled with finally some revelations about just what is going on in the mind of this writer. Little tidbits here and there are nice, but it's about time we got down to some of the nitty gritty, don't you?

Yes, I thought you would agree. ^_^

Same as always, the disclaimer that keeps my butt from getting sued off. I do not own Danny Phantom, the character or the show. Butch Hartman does and I'm fine with the status quo. He made a great show and he deserves the credit. This story is meant only as a tribute, not a claim.

Chapter Eleven: Preparing for War

Pages crinkled as they were turned, and Samantha sat in the Library, everything silent save for that sound. The atmosphere was eerily quite as Opal read, and it gave the plant witch an unpleasant feeling in her gut. The silence felt like a calm before a storm, and it made her uneasy.

"Any progress?" she asked, mostly for some kind of sound than anything else. She knew she probably shouldn't have been bothering the librarian from her work, but any more of the death like silence and Samantha probably would have started going crazy.

"Minimal at best I am afraid," the other woman sighed. "This book, it is peculiar. There are... skips in it, and I can not force it to reveal itself to me if there is nothing to reveal."

"Skips?" Samantha asked and looked over to Opal, sitting at her desk as Samantha sat on the floor, her back resting against one of the shelves.

"A book only records when there is something to record, when something is happening," Opal explained. "The Banished One may have been dwelling in a world that in reality no longer should have existed, but that does not mean he was taking action. It seemed for long periods of time... he simply did nothing. There are gaps in the pages that cover any amount of time from months to millenniums. The pattern is so irregular, and while I would think that would mean he was doing nothing, I can not guarantee that."

"So he may have come up with a plan in one of these gaps, and you would have no idea," Samantha guessed and received a nod. "Wonderful. What about the end? Does it say how he escaped?"

"He simply formed a portal and left," Opal sighed. "He obviously regained his powers, though I can not see how. I can only speculate that perhaps over the years the seal on his powers weakened."

"Is that possible?" Samantha asked.

"It must be. I see no other way he would be able to retreat from his entrapment without some kind of actions that would garnet a passage in the book."

"You think the Observants would have noticed something like that. Didn't they know that would happen?"

"The Observants are immortal," Opal replied. "They have existed since the very universe was born. Everything they watch, everything they see, I can not blame them for losing track of some details. After all, if their powers were unlimited and perfect, then they would have no use of servants such as my father."

"I suppose that is true," Samantha said and rested her head back on the polished wood. She frowned softly, feeling bad for the poor tree that must have been butchered to make the furniture. Then again, this place had existed forever, and it was all on a spectral level. Had they used actually materials to build it, or had it simply existed already?

She supposed it was a pointless question.

"Aside from him getting away, is there anything else?" Samantha asked in order to keep the conversation going.

"Nothing that I have seen," she answered. "I have looked over several years before he escaped, but there is next to nothing."

"Wait, you're just checking the end?" the gothic woman said and looked over at Opal in confusion. "What about the beginning?"

"What is to be found at the start of his imprisonment?" Opal asked incredulously.

"What if there's something he did when he first got thrown in there?" Samantha asked and stood, feeling as if they'd already come across something. "What if he did something that he knew would release his powers eventually. Maybe he wasn't doing anything because he was just waiting."

Opal bit her lip in thought. That certainly sounded feasible. In fact, she felt foolish for not thinking of it herself. Flipping back several pages she ran her fingers over the paper. Words formed under her fingers, twisting and curling around together. Samantha peered over the librarian's shoulders, not able to make any kind of sense of it, but Opal suddenly looked as if she was enraptured by what she was reading.

"He did nothing... not for years, save for... experiment on something..." Opal whispered. "His thoughts, they're forming in the book, as if he wrote a confession of some kind."

"Read it out loud Opal," Samantha said, resting her hands on the woman's shoulders. "What's it say?"

"_I have already spent so many years here. There is nothing to tell the time with, no sun to pass in the sky, or seasons to go by. Any other creature would have surely gone mad from the complete lack of time, but I am above such influences. I can sense the passage of it inside of me, even as I am as unchanging in this world I was imprisoned in._

"_The medallion has been more use to me that I would have thought. Its powers, formed by one of our many servants, Clockwork, was taken simply on luck. I never would have thought how useful it would eventually be. At first I simply tinkered with it as a way to occupy my mind and I couldn't have guessed the luck it would bring me. I know it's changing to my experiments and that I am affecting its powers, expanding them. As an Observant, even a banished one, my powers can not be completely wiped away. I can sense what my servants are doing at all times, what they know or see. I have had this medallion for a while now, and Clockwork has never come to retrieve it. I now know why. I have given it an affect unique to anything else in all of existence._

"_I can no longer be seen by Clockwork's eyes. He does not even notice I think, not even thinking about me. Like the others, he must be at ease with my prison. I am weak now, I could so easily be caught even if I could flee, but I feel my powers slipping back to me. It is taking so long, like a dripping faucet trying to fill an ocean. However, I am patient. I need time to plan anyway, to think. I can't be seen, but that doesn't mean he could still not see my plans. I must find a way to have my reach stretch over everything quickly. My fate must tie with everything, so he can not see it. I must not allow any cracks, or I know he might be my downfall._

"_I need to affect everything, must control it all."_

Samantha watched Opal trace the pages with her fingers before closing the book.

"He used a medallion," she breathed. "All he did was change it. Is that even possible?"

"All this effort, just to stop Clockwork?" Samantha asked. "But how did he even get one in the first place?"  
"As an Observant, I am sure it was all too easy for him," Opal said. "I am more confused on why he would steal one. He did not know what would happen if he took such actions."

"We don't know anything about how he was captured or banished," Samantha said. "Maybe it was Clockwork that was the one who got him." She frowned. "Banished with an item that can keep you from being affected by one of their most powerful servants. I was never very impressed with the Observants, but they're starting to sound pretty stupid for the ones who are supposed to watch over us so called clueless mortals."

Opal sighed.

"Please keep in mind that those are my employers, however indirectly," she said. "They thought the matter was closed. A mistake, but an understandable one."

"So, what did he mean by stretching his reach over everything?" Samantha said. "You think that's why he stole the Quill?"

"I... I can see no other reason," Opal replied unhappily. "With the quill, he can affect everyone's very being. The future of everything is locked with him if he can affect it, and he can. He... can change it all if he wanted to."

"But only if he has the books."

"It does not matter," Opal replied. "His existence is obviously infused with the others now. I do not know if that is simply because he can possibly effect everything... or because it is already destined that he will."

"Don't make it sound as if he's already won," Samantha reprimanded. "We have our answer. Clockwork's foresight isn't gone, it's just being blocked. We can still go and stop this Banished One. All we have to do is just be sure to take the medallion from him too. And we don't have all the details of exactly how everything happened, but this is a lot better than when we started."

The librarian smiled.

"Yes, you are right of course," she said. "Uncle will be most pleased. It will be good to impart some good news to him once he arrives."

"Speaking of which, don't you think he's taking his time? He should have been back by now."

"He should have," Opal agreed. "Do you think they perhaps came across trouble?"

"With my love, there is always trouble," Samantha sighed, though there was a wistful smile on her face.

"I can see you miss him," the librarian observed.

"Yes, but there's nothing I can do about it," she answered. "He thinks I should change my Eden, ask you to fix things."

"I could not," Opal said.

"I know. I don't want you to anyway. I'm happy with things the way they are. If I had to choose between him and my garden, I'd still choose my garden. I love my world."

"It certainly would not seem pleasant to most, but you have achieved peace," Opal agreed. "I learned myself long ago that places filled only with either good or evil are rare. Such concept are rarely true. There are purposes, and it is rare for a world to be so truly gone that there is no reason for it to exist."

"So why the Quill? If you are so against using it, why have it? It has been been more harm than good from what I've seen."

Opal bit her lip and fidgeted with her skirt.

"I have... wondered the same thing myself. It certainly never brought me any good. But... I suppose it is better to have and not need than need and not have."

"Opal?" Samantha asked. "Are you alright?"

"I once used the Quill selfishly," the librarian confessed. "I thought I was doing good but it... was for nothing more than my own selfish desires, and... consequences were paid for my sin."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing that has anything to do with the affairs in front of us now," Opal replied. "Perhaps when this is over, I will impart the tale on you. You are the type of person who could understand. For now, I must read more. Perhaps I can fill the details and answer more of our questions."

Samantha let Opal be, knowing the woman was not in the mood to talk. Walking back to her sitting place, she settled herself down and began to wait again. She should have been relieved. After all, it seemed they were getting somewhere. And it was good to know that Clockwork's situation was not actually too bad. Things could be fixed fairly easily and soon if things went well.

But the strangling silence was back, and Samantha's stomach twisted like the plants she controlled. She still felt uneasy.

More time passed and Opal kept reading. She didn't say anything though, so the other woman just assumed she hadn't found anything interesting. Samantha kept her eyes locked on the floor, waiting for the others to return. She was sure they were fine, though she had to wonder if maybe something had happened. Danny had such a bad habit of getting into trouble. Maybe this was on of those times. She would have been happier to go herself and get him, but protecting the Library was important too. Though from the looks of it, it wasn't going to get attacked any time soon.

If there had been any kind retaliation planned for the attack on the Banished One's castle, she had a feeling it would have happened already.

Her head jerked up immediately when a purple portal formed out of the corner of her eye. She saw Danny coming through and quickly stood to greet him, but his expression stopped her. His face was twisted in anger, fear, worry, and so many other emotions. She had to wonder what was wrong when her eyes trailed over to the girl next to him.

"Danielle?" she asked softly. She was still around? The girl had never shown again in Samantha's world, no doubt fading to mere a puddle of ecto-energy with no way to cure herself. Had Danny somehow saved her in his own?

She looked over to Dan and Clockwork, neither of them seeming all that pleased either. What was going on?

"Uncle," Opal said and stood. "I am glad to see you have returned. I have good news. I think we may possibly have found the answer to our troubles." She too paused at Danny's sour expression and glanced at her uncle in question. "Is there something wrong. Where are Sam and Tucker, Uncle?"

"Kidnapped," Danny spat out immediately. "Angela took them both. She wants to get us to come back to our world in order to save them."

"A trap," Samantha said and crossed her arms in distaste.

"Yeah," Danny said. "And I'm going to go get her for it. I can't believe she'd stoop so low."

"You have to stop putting your enemy on a pedestal," Samantha noted. "You have been saying that about her a lot."

"That doesn't help," Danny snapped at her angrily, surprising her. She frowned a little and he wilted slightly. "Sorry. I just..."

"Don't," she said and waved her hand, dismissing his attempt at an apology. Truthfully, his attitude was a little hurtful, but they couldn't dwell on it. "We have other things to focus on. I'm fine. You being upset is perfectly understandable."

"You said you found some answers?" Clockwork asked Opal, to which she nodded.

"That is correct," she said. "While you were away, Samantha suggested checking a part of the book that had not occurred to me. The Banished One is in possession of one of your medallions, and was somehow able to manipulate the device to block your sight of him. Now that he has the Quill, I believe he is using it to cancel your visions of the future all together. It is as if he has laid a sheet of paper in front of your eyes. You powers are not gone, simply unable to be used properly."

"That is good news," Clockwork replied. "If we get the medallion from him, then this whole issue will resolve itself fairly soon."

Opal saw the relief in her uncle's eyes, but didn't comment on it. This had to be truly trying for him. She was glad she'd been able to help, even if it was only to give him an explanation.

"Was there anything else?" he asked.

"Nothing that I am aware of," Opal replied. "Other than the seal that was put on him seems to have been incomplete. It took many years, but his powers were seeping back to him. I can only guess this is because of the fact that the Observants have never before imprisoned one of their own before him. I do not think they suspected he would be too much to contain, even for the Council."

"Typical really," the Time Master sighed.

"So, get the Quill, get the medallion. Anything else?" Dani asked.

"Beat the shit out of this prick of course," Dan said to her with a grin.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," she said with a small laugh before Danny gave her a glare. "Oh, come on Danny. We're gonna save them. Sam and Tucker are tough. They aren't gonna let themselves get hurt by anyone before we show up and bust them out. Just think, we go and find the Observant, stop him and grab the Quill and medallion. We stop whatever he's planning, hand him over to the other Observant guys after we make sure Sam and Tucker are okay and Angela goes back to being our buddy. Sounds like a plan to me."

"I guess," Danny said, his tone still a little angry.

"Ah, don't worry. It'll be a snap."

"So, I take it that you will all be departing soon?" Opal asked.

"Yes. There's no reason to stay for long," Clockwork replied. "The longer we wait, the longer the enemy has to prepare."

"You coming with?" Dan asked, surprised.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?" the Time Master said.

"Sure you're going to be much help. Hell, that Observant is probably fully prepared for you to show up."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't go," he said. "The second we have him I have to bring him back to the Observerants. They aren't going to be happy that there was interference in the first place, but if you're alone it will be a complete outrage to them. They know they have to tolerate me and my actions. Without me, you would all probably be punished, especially you Phantom."

"Punished for doing a good deed? No wonder I turned," Dan muttered.

"Punished for interfering, but yes, the consequences would be the same. With me there, they won't be able to object. At least, not too loudly."

"Geez, is it just me, or do these guys sound like bigger and bigger jerks the more we talk about them?" Dani said and crossed her arms with a little huff.

"They are quick to anger it seems like," Samantha said as she looked to young clone. "You are Danielle, aren't you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Hey, you must be Samantha, right? Danny told me about you when he got back," Dani said and looked at her in confusion. "How come you're older than our Sam?"

"The worlds do not all necessarily follow the same flow of time," Opal explained. "Samantha simply happens to be a few years ahead. But that is hardly important right now. You'll need to be leaving soon. Is there anything you will require before you all leave, or while you are gone?"

"Just guard the Library," Clockwork told her. "This should be over soon, but..."

"But anything is likely to happen," she replied and nodded her head. "I will take the utmost care. Just promise me that you will all do the same."

Clockwork smiled and patted her shoulder.

"We'll be careful."

#---------#

"There's no one coming?"

"No General. The skies are clear."

Angela crossed her arms and frowned as she stood at the gate of the fortress. She'd made sure there were plenty of ghosts posted everywhere, trying to keep the chances for a surprise attack down. She had a feeling in her gut they would come in the castle if they could, but she wasn't discounting the possibility of them sneaking in normally instead of just appearing inside. She had to make sure they had the tactical advantage on their side.

She knew she had the odds on her side, the numbers stacked in her favor, but she herself had not so long ago helped them break in and lay waste to the place. Simply kicking back and letting them waltz right in wasn't acceptable by any means. She had to use her resources smartly, or she was just going to let the kid get away again.

"Keep your eyes open and don't hesitate to sound the alarm the second you see them."

"Yes General."

Satisfied, she made her way back inside and decided to report her progress to the Observer. Everything was in place, and she was actually eager to tell him so. It had been a while since she'd planned for a battle. It gave her a little thrill in her stomach she had thought she'd lost in the last year. A well planned battle meant victory, and victory meant spoils. Granted, her pay this time wasn't going to be gold or money, but there was still quite a bounty to be had.

Angela understood war. She understood there were no real good guys or bad guys. There was conflict and the desire to take each other down. Like animals fighting for survival. It was not a pretty truth, but it was one she had lived her life, and her death by. There were always people out there that needed someone removed, and that was where people like her came in. She hadn't made the world like that, just used the situation to her advantage.

Yeah, there were some that couldn't handle it and ended up dying, but that was just life in general. Angela knew if that Observant had never come along, things would have continued. Life would have continued. Maybe people like Danny couldn't understand it, but she took to such a life readily. It had been all she had ever known, and she was one of the strong who could accept it and grow fat off it.

She had the same eagerness in her stomach that she had not felt in a long time and grinned. She was back in her element, and felt very comfortable with the fact. Sure she'd sold her soul to that devil, but she was back in a world she understood, a world where she belonged.

She had such simple orders. Kill Danny Phantom, and her people would be spared. One life for almost a hundred. The numbers were simple, made sense. It was nothing she couldn't do.

"Did you kill him?"

The mercenary turned around curiously at the voice suddenly behind her. Confused when she didn't see anyone, she looked down and saw a boy, maybe in his mid teens. Lank gray hair that didn't seem to fit his age hung over his face, tracing several scars on one of his cheeks. He looked up at her with a dull look in his red eyes, immediately reminding her of the street urchins who lived in the cities of this world. His gaze almost seemed... broken. There was a flicker of life in them but it seemed far off, like it was hiding away from something. She could see the familiar bitterness she'd learned a long time ago to recognize.

But he looked achingly familiar, and if she hadn't known better, she would have sworn she knew him somehow.

"Who are you?" she found herself asking.

"I asked you if you killed Danny Fenton," the boy said, his tone annoyed.

She just frowned and crossed her arms. She was getting tired of dealing with these people who thought the could just talk down to her whenever they felt like it and expect her just to put up with it. It was really starting to piss her off.

"Get lost kid. It's obvious that I'm preparing for an attack and you want to come and bother me? Do you think I killed him yet?" she snapped at him.

"Please?" he asked, fixing her with a gaze she found it hard to look away from. "It's important. I need to know if he's still alive. Please tell me if you killed him."

"No," she admitted. "I didn't. Not yet anyway. Why? Do you... know him or something?"

He didn't answer her question, instead just looking down at the ground and turned around, walking off before stopping for a moment.

"Thank you," he said flatly and continued on his way. She stared after him.

"Hey wait," she said and walked briskly after him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Wait a second. Who are you?"

He whirled around and smacked her hand away, snarling at her.

"Don't you touch me," he hissed at her angrily. He backed away quickly, reminding her of a wild animal afraid of human beings, but still trying to be fierce enough to protect it's territory from one. "Just don't touch me."

"Okay," she said and held up her hands, backing off. She didn't know why she was being so nice to the brat, but she certainly saw no reason to intentionally push his buttons. Cornered people always had a bad tendency to go off when they felt threatened, and she had enough on her plate without worrying about that too. "I don't want to hurt you kid. I was just curious who you were, that's all."

He looked at her for a moment, frowning.

"Wraith," he said simply.

"Wraith?" she asked. "Who the hell named you Wraith?"

"The Observant," he said back softly. "He said I needed a new name, and gave me that one. I like it well enough I guess."

"Sounds fucking cliché actually," she muttered, to which he glared at him. "Oh, calm down kid. Like my opinion really fucking matters around here?"

He said nothing and she sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck with one of her gloved hands.

"So, what's your real name?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I don't want it anymore anyway."

"Huh. Well whatever. Call yourself whatever the hell you want. I'm Angela, in case you didn't know."

"I knew. The Observant told me."

"Figures," Angela muttered. "I take it you're one of his... ahem... soldiers like me? You don't act like the zombie-like ghosts he controls because of that book."

"I'm not being controlled," he said simply. "He rescued me."

"Rescued you?" Angela asked. "Are you even from this world?"

He shook his head.

"So, out of curiosity, why do you care whether that Danny kid is alive or not?" she asked.

"The Observer promised me his life," he said. "I want to be the one to kill him."

"Why?"

"Because," he said. "He stole what doesn't belong to him. Something of mine. Something precious."

"What?" she asked confused. "What'd he steal from you?"

He looked down at the ground suddenly, sniffling. She nearly jumped, surprised that she'd made the kid cry.

"Hey, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said and bent down on her knees to comfort him.

"He stole me from me," he whimpered before he turned and ran away.

"Hey!" she called and quickly stood up. It was no good, he was already gone. "What the hell? What a weird fucking kid."

End of Chapter Eleven

Well, now we finally know what's happening to Clockwork. No, he isn't loosing his powers. They're just getting blocked, and from one of his own devises. Hey, sometimes the simple stuff works you know. I figure if it can cancel out his time powers, it could probably be rewired to block other parts of his powers. And an Observant probably could figure out how to, if it were so inclined.

Still not being clear on everything of course. That would just be boring. But there is enough where I'm sure things are starting to come together. Heh. We still have a while to go, so I hope you all are enjoying the ride.

I'm having a lot of writing this. I think I'm finally getting into the feel of all the characters, including my OCs. Everyone is getting their time in the chapters, so no one is just sitting in the background and getting ignored, which I had to be honest I was a little scared of considering how many people are in this story. And trust me, there are going to be more.

I am especially liking Wraith. He's very fun somehow. I find him swinging back and forth between very rough to very vulnerable. I know he's been limited to very few appearances, but he's about to have his big debut come next chapter explaining who he is and what he's got against our favorite hero.

In any case, please review to tell me how you are liking it. Reviews are like milk and cookies are to Santa Claus. I'd still do the job without them, but it's nice to know that what I'm doing is appreciated and enjoyed. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


	12. Wrath

Ah, it feels good to get this chapter out. I've been dying to do it for a while, and I'm very please with the results. Wraith was actually suppose to make his main appearance much earlier on, being the one who went after Danny in the place of Angela. However, her character started to grow and develop out of the little one-shot appearance. She was suppose to fly them in and leave, never to be heard from again and assumed that she just went back home, though I hated how shallow and boring that felt for her. Keeping her in the story was a snap decision that I am infinitely glad I made. She's become an interesting character as apposed to a little plot point, and made it so Wraith's major debut didn't come until later. I think this is better honestly, because it has much more of a fluid feel to it all.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. You all know the drill. I don't own the show. If Butch Hartman ever reads this (I doubt it) then I hope he won't mind. It's nothing I did as an attempt to steal the show, just to pay homage to it.

Chapter Twelve: Wrath

It was a little unnerving to Danny how quiet their arrival was, even if that had been their intention. Teleporting into one the many rooms in the tower Danny had originally climbed up with Sam and Tucker, they'd been all alone in the dark area when they had first gotten there.

The plan was simple. Clockwork was going to go after the Observant, with Dan and Samantha going with him to act as backup while Danny and Dani went off to find Sam and Tucker. Splitting up wasn't ideal, but they had two separate objectives and the longer they spent on one, the higher the chances were that it that either Sam and Tucker would get hurt or the Observant would escape. Opal had said that according to the book, they were downstairs, being kept in a cell, but she wasn't sure on the exact location.

Which was why Danny and his cousin were currently on their own, moving through the fortress and looking for their friends. The only thing was, they hadn't come across anyone yet. Danny's ghost sense was useless as well. The cold breathe from his lungs kept coming, but it only meant that they were around. He couldn't pinpoint any locations, though he kept feeling like every time he turned around, there should have been someone there.

He would have liked to know what Angela's plans were, but Opal had sadly told him she could only help so much. The book recorded things as it happened, and could only say that the enemy was planning an ambush, but of course, they had all known that from the beginning.

So why wasn't anyone attacking? How was it that this was proving to be so easy?

A sudden strangled shout caught his attention and a door slammed above them. Danny's head snapped up at the sound, looking for the source.

"What was that?" Dani asked.

"I don't know," he replied. It couldn't have been more than a story above them. "Come on, it might have been Tucker or something."

They made their way quickly upstairs and Danny approached the door carefully. Going intangible, they slipped inside only to see a ghost, groaning and slumped against a wall that looked suspiciously like the Box Ghost.

"He thought he could catch you on his own. An ambush, but pointless. You're mine," a voice growled behind them and Danny gave a startled cry in pain as a painful energy blast seared at his back. He whirled around to face his assailant only to hear Dani give a muffled shout as she was grabbed, a hand quickly covering her mouth.

Danny glared at the one holding her, unable to make out who it was in the shadows. He could see the faint outline and a glow of red eyes as arms held Dani firmly to his chest. They narrowed suddenly as he shoved the girl at Danny before she had a chance to phase out of his grasp, slamming into her cousin.

"Your friends are waiting. If you want them then follow me," he stated before phasing down through the floor.

"Hey! Get back here!" Danny yelled as he helped Dani steady herself. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just caught by surprise," she said. "Come on. Let's go after him."

Following him wasn't easy. He was faster than Danny would have expected, and he could barely keep him in his sights. Everyone once in a while he thought they'd lost him, only to have a shot thrown at them to catch their attention again. Danny knew he was being lead into something, but as long as he got to his friends, it didn't matter. Catching the sight of the other ghost flying through the floor, Danny zoomed after him, Dani following close behind.

Stopping short when he reached the main hall, he looked around wildly, trying to find him again. The lights were low and the halfa could barely see anything

"Where is he?" Dani asked as she floated next to him. "Do you see him?"

"No," he answered.

Suddenly the torches flared to life, illuminating the room sharply and causing the two to cover their eyes with their arms to keep from becoming blinded.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you got this far," Angela's voice called and the two looked up, seeing the woman standing in the room, arms crossed but smirking. Several ghost were encircling them, some that Danny recognized, though most he didn't. And standing right next to her was a human teen, head bowed a little and black hair hanging over his face.

"I found it hard to believe when the Observant first told me who you were," Angela said, though she wasn't talking to Danny. She was looking down at the one by her side. "Now that I've seen you both though, you do look alike.

"I hardly take that as a compliment," he growled out and lifted his head to glare at Danny.

The ghost boy was shocked to see he was looking at himself... though at the same time, wasn't. At first glance, he looked so similar, but there were differences that all seemed wrong somehow. His eyes were a much more intense shade of blue than what Danny had, his hair was not the sleek black it should have been, instead a more dull tone and lifeless, and his face and body had a slightly different structure. All of it looked off, as if Danny was looking in some strange fun-house mirror. And of course, there were the scars too. Covering the right side of his face, they went in several different directions on his face, some fat, thin, short, or long enough top stretch from his jaw to his forehead.

"Danny," Dani breathed out softly. "It's you."

"You promise he's mine?" the boy asked.

"The Observant ordered me, I don't have a choice," Angela muttered. "If he was really so worried about this boy, you think he'd stop playing these games. If it looks like you're about to loose, I'm stepping in."

"That won't be necessary," he replied and stepped forward. Dark black rings engulfed him, revealing the one that Danny had been chasing earlier. Eyes with blue shifted completely to red, black hair became a dead gray and his street clothing of jeans and a brown windbreaker covering a black t-shirt was quickly replaced by a white and black jumpsuit, colors reserved to Danny's and looking much like the outfit Danny had worn before he had been changed by the Ghost Portal.

"Wh-who are you?" Danny finally managed to stammer out. "Where did you come from?"

"A different world, a hell to your paradise Danny Fenton," he hissed out. "My name is Wraith now, but before my life was torn apart, I was known as Daniel Masters."

Danny's momentary shock was all that Wraith needed, flying at him suddenly and tackling him, the two flying though the crowd where Wraith would have more room to fight him.

"Danny!" his younger counterpart cried and made to help him, only to have Angela and several others get in the way.

"I have no orders about leaving you to the boy," the mercenary said. "You have to be dealt with immediately."

"Gee, ganging up on a kid," Dani snorted as green energy formed around her fists. "As if you need any more points proving you're just a cowardly bad guy."

"I've done worse," Angela informed her. "And killed others younger than you. It's your own fault for being in this war. Just like anyone else that falls."

#---------#

"I was wondering exactly when you were going to come for me," the Observant commented as he looked at Clockwork flanked by Dan and Samantha. A large orb floated in front of him, showing him the fight occurring at the base if the building, him far from it in the top of his tower, the very room where he had locked Judas away to die.

"You don't seem surprised," Clockwork noted.

"Plans like mine always attract complications like you," the Banished One said. "Though I don't always understand why."

"You're not the type who should be deciding how the universe should be balanced," the Time Master stated. "You're too twisted to having anything to do with life, and on top of that, you intentionally blocked my foresight with that medallion of yours. Did you really think I wouldn't come after you?"

"Ah, I see you figured that out then. I wonder how. Did you feel it somehow, or did you simply piece it together?"

"The world you had been trapped in. Opal checked the book and found out."

"The human girl?" the Observant laughed. "Oh yes, I had almost forgotten about her. Why Scrinium ever picked up a pathetic thing like that is beyond me. I knew Wraith would have no difficulty when he went to get the Quill from her, but her attempts to protect her adoptive father's realm was laughable at best."

"Wraith?" Samantha asked.

"Oh yes. A truly remarkable boy. He's been mine for some time now. I've taught him everything about how these worlds are really run. He was truly disturbed by the lack of compassion his life has given him and that there were those that could have fixed it but refused to. But I've given him hope. His services will save him. Give him the relief he's been dying to have."

"What are you planning?" Clockwork asked.

"Hmm? You mean you don't know? I thought it would be fairly obvious."

"Enough. Talking at this point it stupid," Dan growled out, moving forward but an arm caught at his chest.

"Wait," Clockwork told him.

"For what?" the ghost snapped. "We came here to grab him, didn't we?"

The Observant chuckled.

"Clockwork, Clockwork. You're just as interesting when I was first imprisoned," he chuckled. "So much like me. You've never agreed with the way the Council works. They think they can watch and rule without lifting a finger, only forcing others to do their dirty work when something didn't go their way. You always thought life and time needed to be guided with a more hands on approach, often bending or outright breaking the rules to do what was best, despite what those fools may have thought. Only, you had such a bad habit to think people could be turned to good, no matter what sins they'd committed. The one following you is proof enough of that."

"Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves," Clockwork said as Dan snarled at him. "Thats the whole point of life, to learn from mistakes and move on, trying to become better from it."

"Such actions that would help an individual, but rarely a whole," the Observant sighed. "It's not possible to save everyone like that. And even if there was, it wouldn't really help. The bad would still be there, festering inside. A disease needs to be killed, cut away to heal the whole. Much like your beautiful soldier there."

He glanced at Samantha and the woman tensed, expecting an attack, but the entity just kept talking.

"She understands. There were things in her world that hurt her precious plants, and she did away with them. Now there is peace and she rules over it lovingly. Tell me my dear, don't you think that keeping around trash that would hurt others is counterproductive?"

"Don't you dare say you and I are the same," she hissed out, her eyes flashing angrily. "You've killed an entire planet for no reason at all. I've hardly seen how you've tried to heal anyone."

"Sadly, these problems can no longer be contained by simply doing away with just individuals. No one listened to me, gave my warnings any heed. Beings were twisted before, but when I escaped I saw it had only gotten worse. A world doesn't becomes like this overnight. A mediocre world makes bad decision and only spawns worse realities as things change and split. It gets worse and worse until this sort of reality is a result. Slipping down is so much easier than trying to improve, climbing to a better future. How many good worlds are there opposed to bad? One to ten? One to hundreds? Thousands? Things become corrupt and it never gets better, so many are unwilling to change, use to their world as it is. But I am going to change that."

He looked to Clockwork and his eye narrowed.

"You want to know my plan, Clockwork?" he asked. "It is only this. I will purge this clutter and start over with the worlds that have proven themselves to be truly good. Like a brushfire needed to let a forest grow strong, I will destroy planets like this, tearing them apart so they can't hurt anything more. And the ones left, I will rule over, with my powers and armies. They will know that a god rules over them, instead of a useless Council that would just watch the multiverse become worse and worse! I will bring prosperity to those who have earned it, and destruction to the rest!"

"This idiot is officially fucking getting on my nerves," Dan snapped. "Why the hell don't you just freeze him in time if you won't let me do anything?"

"Because I can't," Clockwork informed him. "He has the medallion, remember?"

"Yes, I do," the Observant stated. "Your powers are worthless against me, even if I didn't have it. The Observants don't really exist in time either, and what kind of employers would have a servant that could so easily subdue them anyway? I planned a long time, protecting myself from all possibilities, you included. In fact, as much as I have been able to affect this medallion, it is much more powerful than you ever made them. With my powers imbued into it, this entire castle is protected from your meddling. You couldn't do anything in this building if the life of the world depended on it. And ironically, it does. You're about as powerless to stop me as that slave you have by your side is."

"Okay, talking time is over!" Dan growled, shoving Clockwork's arm away. "If he doesn't have the balls to do anything, I'll just take care of your pale ass myself!"

"Dan, don't!"

He didn't pay any attention to the Time Master's shout, instead jumping at the Observant. He went straight through him though, nearly slamming into the wall before he turned to look at the thing, confused on what had happened.

"A simple projection," Clockwork said. "I could tell from the beginning you aren't really here. You're acting like a coward."

"Only a fool lets pride keep him from taking precautions. Besides, why would I want to get mauled by one of your attack dogs? I think it best I remain hidden, don't you?"

Clockwork frowned and the Observant laughed.

"You didn't think I would slip and let you pinpoint my location if you kept me talking long enough, did you?" he asked. "No, I'm afraid you are going to have to work harder than that if you ever hope of stopping me. I'm not about to make it easy on you, not after coming so far."

He glanced down at the orb and if he'd had a mouth, he would have grinned.

"As it is, I have other things to attend to. Besides, don't you think you should do something about your supposed savior getting killed by my boy Wraith?"

"What?" Samantha cried as the Observant lifted the orb higher, showing a battered Danny getting punched by Wraith. "Danny!"

She turned sharply, rushing for the door, intent on saving him.

"Samantha!" Clockwork called, but she was already gone.

"You're lack of control over your pieces are obvious Clockwork. You can't be a gentle hand. You have to force them to obey you," the Observant stated. "Did you really think one of your little pet projects could ever stand up to one of my finely groomed warriors? If that boy hadn't been well trained beforehand, he certainly is now. He will stop at nothing to rip the life out of that boy. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The Observant's form faded away quickly, leaving the orb to hang in the air for a moment before suddenly falling and crashing into the stone floor, shattering.

"That fucking went well," Dan growled. "What now?"

"We help Danny," he stated simply.

"Think the run away Venus Fly Trap already has it covered."

"We have to make sure he's okay," Clockwork said firmly. "Besides, this Wraith boy he mentioned could be used to our favor. We need to find the Observant and help your younger counterpart. Wraith could play key parts in both."

"You had better be right," Dan muttered as as started after Samantha. "I've been saving that boy way too fucking often for my tastes."

#---------#

Danny stumbled back, bumping into the wall and nearly collapsing against it, breathing deeply and holding his ribs. His sides were screaming at him, practically on fire from the pain, and his vision was starting to get fuzzy. He couldn't see Dani anymore, only knowing from being able to hear the fighting still going on that she was still hanging in there. He'd thought he'd herd her scream earlier before, and he had no idea if she were okay or not. Every time he'd tried to get to her to help, Wraith had been there to force him back again.

"Are you ready to die yet, Danny Fenton?" Wraith growled out as he approached him menacingly. "Your level of powers are pathetic. I was told you'd stumbled with them, trying to figure them out on your own, but I never thought you'd be this easy to beat. It's almost not even worth it."

"How... are you so much st-stronger?" Danny gasped out, his breathe a little heavy. "You're just me. There shouldn't be such a difference in our powers."

"I AM NOT YOU!" Wraith yelled suddenly, shooting a blast at him. It slammed into his stomach, making him nearly double over before his hair was grabbed brutally and his head was yanked up into the other's snarling face. "But to answer your question, my father taught me how to control my powers. He saw me develop, just like he had. He raised me to use my powers properly instead of struggling through it like he had to, and you are."

"Vlad Masters, right?" Danny coughed. "So that's the difference. You got pulled in by him. I don't know what happened, but if he used you than it was your fault, not mine."

"My father did NOT use me," Wraith hissed angrily. "Don't you dare assume you know anything about me! We are not the same person, not by a long shot. Your foolish father Jack Fenton is nothing more than a name to me, a man my mother once knew before marrying my father after he recovered from his accident. My father, my flesh and blood is Vlad Masters."

"You have got to be kidding me," Danny groaned. "My mother never would have married him!"

"You are right partially," Wraith said. "Not if she had known what he really was. He kept it from her of course. But that doesn't matter. And another little piece of information to show you how wrong your life really is. That little clone following you around, she's my little sister in my world. She never should have been created in such a way, just to be tossed away by a man who never would have done that for real."

"Dani is... your sister? What kind of world did you come from?"

"Yes, and she's stronger too. Much stronger. Not that any of that matters now, after the hell I had to be put through."

"Wha...?"

"You have no idea how much I hate you Danny Fenton," he growled out. "But let me give your blissfully unaware, stupid little mind a clue. You need to understand before I take my revenge out on you. I hate you more than anything on this planet. I hate you more than anyone could hate anything. My hatred for you is so deep that you could take the word 'hate' and carve it in the wall behind you, over and over again. If that covered this entire building, no every building, every home, every skyscraper in this whole world, it still wouldn't come even remotely close to being able to show how much I despise you."

"Listen, I-"

"SHUT UP!" he screamed and blasted Danny again in the stomach. The close range only made it worse as Danny screamed before he was roughly shoved in the wall, Wraith releasing him to writhe in the pain. "Do you think you have any right to talk? You think you have any right at all to try and defend yourself? You don't deserve any of this! It's all WRONG! Why did they accept you and toss me away? Why was I garbage to my mother when yours accepted you? WHY DID I LOSE MY FATHER WHEN YOU STILL HAVE HIM AND DON'T EVEN WANT HIM IN YOUR LIFE?"

Danny stared, wide eyed at the boy in front of him. He looked crazed, angry, broken. Tears were running down his face, even as he glared at Danny.

"You don't deserve to live like this! None of the different yous do. I'm going to fix it though. Every world where you're happy, I'm going to change that. Every reality where you have even the slightest chance of having a better life than me, I am going to destroy. You are going to suffer like I did because that, and only that, is what you deserve!"

He shuddered and shook his head, as if coming back to his senses

"Do you know what happened to me to make me like this?" he asked softly. "Imagine, a happy life with a happy family. My father was a good man, and he cared so much for my little sister and I. My mother was happy too, but only because she was being lied to. As you know, my father had the gift of being a halfa, something my sister and I inherited in birth, thought we didn't developing until our older years. He never told my mother because she hated ghosts, though he trained me and my sister in secret. He taught us to use our powers for good, to help others. He thought... that maybe someday my mom would be able to accept us and and then we could tell her. We'd all be happy, and that's all he ever really wanted.

"And then the asteroid came. Father did everything he could to stop it, but in the end it took him revealing himself to the world to keep everyone from dying. I thought it would be okay. I thought my mother would accept us. Do you know what she did instead?"

He glared at Danny, as if daring him to say something. He stayed silent though, in both fear and shock. He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"She killed him! She shot him then tried to kill me and my little sister! Her own children! We got away, having to drag my father with us. We wanted to save him, but... he died right in front of me. He just... died."

"Wait, I..."

"Vlad Masters was nothing but a good man," he hissed over Danny's attempts to talk. "So good it killed him! He begged me not to hate my mother, begged me not to hurt her. But you want to know something? His dear little Maddie... never stopped screaming once."

He grinned maliciously as Danny stared at him in horror.

"You killed her?"

"I did so much more than that," he said, his smile getting even wider. "I broke her. Tortured her. She went through every pain I could possible imagine, and then I drug her to my father's grave, showing her what she had done to me. She was so pathetic at the end, but I didn't even get the chance to finish her off. My poor deluded sister let her go, believing she still deserved life... just because she was still our mother. And you know what our mother did when my sister lead her away?"

Danny shivered. He didn't want to hear this but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Little Danielle almost died," Wraith whispered. "My mother... shot her right in the chest. She was... so cold when I found her... Just like father was. But she didn't let me help her. She screamed at me, told me I was nothing but a monster... and she wanted nothing more to do with me."

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"My father thought he could be good and he would be accepted by the woman he literally loved more than life itself. My mother was a racist bitch, and my sister was so innocent that she thought that everyone deserved a second chance, except for me for some reason. All of them, either dead or hiding from me. How do you think that makes me feel?

"But here you are, going through life so happy and unaware. Nothing in your mind letting you know what should have happened to you. Not until now. Now I'm going to show you, and your going to scream worse than our hate-ridden mother did."

Ecto-energy, a very soft shade of red as opposed to Danny's green flared to life in his hands.

"Are you ready to die Danny Fenton?" Wraith asked with a little cackle. "After I take care of you, I hope you know your parents are going to be next. I never got to kill my own mother, so yours will have to do. From what I've heard, she's still the same bitch in your world as mine, so I'm sure it won't make much of a difference."

He smiled down at Danny, as if enjoying some kind of sick treat and Danny's eyes widened. There was no way he was getting beaten by this guy. There was too much riding on this, and he had too help Dani. She was tough, but she couldn't be handling all of those ghost on her own.

"No," he said as he stood, glaring at Wraith. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I won't let you do this. You have to be stopped. I won't let you kill me, and I definitely won't let you kill my family!"

"What makes you think you have a choice?" Wraith asked with a harsh laugh. "Face it. I'm stronger than you! I've had my powers longer, I've been trained better, and it's more a part of me than it would ever be with you from that accident of yours."

"Maybe you have been trained when I just figured it out all on my own, but that doesn't mean you're stronger," Danny retorted. "If you've only inherited your powers from Vlad, than I have something in my arsenal he never did, and you never will."

"What's that?" he asked angrily, seemingly getting tired of talking.

"This!" Danny yelled and sucked in a large breathe before letting out a Ghost Wail. He clenched his eyes shut in concentration, but not before he saw Wraith's shock.

Wraith was surprised by the power, covering his ears in pain from the reverberations before it slammed into him, forcing him backwards. He tried to hold out against it, but he was getting pushed back by the onslaught. He turned his head to advert his eyes from it, seeing the other ghosts were doing much worse than he was. Others had been knocked aside, and Angela had dropped Dani and was, like him, trying to withstand the raw energy. Another pulse, stronger this time, hit him and he was suddenly sent flying.

"Hey kid!" Angela cried out and flew at him, catching him before they both crashed into the floor, the mercenary's back arching in pain from taking most of the brunt of the damage.

The attack stopped and Wraith looked up in rage as he saw Danny, now in his human form, sink weakly to his hands and knees as Dani ran over to help him. He gasped in pain as he shifted, but forced himself to get off of Angela anyway. He was going to finish this, no matter what it took!

"You think that did any good?" Wraith screamed even as he stumbled. He'd been forced out of his ghost form as well, but that didn't matter. "You think I have to be a ghost to kill you? I'll bash your brain in with a rock if I have to! You can't stop me!"

"Actually he already did. You just don't know it yet."

Wraith whirled around to see Dan grinning over him, looking very very pleased.

"Night night, bitch," he said before slamming his fist in the teenager's face, instantly knocking him unconscious. Dan snorted. Honestly, he probably could have just shoved him down to take him out. He didn't even think this Wraith boy knew how badly he'd been hurt. Not that was any reason to go easy on him.

End of Chapter Twelve

Well, there you go. Wow, I don't know why the darker chapters are so much fun to write, but they are. I doubt it shocked many people since I wasn't trying to hide who he really was that hard, it was still cool to do. Wraith was someone I wanted to introduce since I started this story. Angry, alone, sad, broken, and rejected by people he really cared about. I don't think Maddie would ever really do that to Danny, but the thing about multiple realities is that you can take the same basic character and change them into different people who would have vastly different reactions to things. And as much of a radical she can be at times about ghosts, I imagine that sort of reaction isn't that far off.

One quick thing. I wanted to clear this up before there is any confusion over it. In this story, Phantom Planet did happen, but a little differently. Instead of it being Vlad's fault, it was just a natural disaster coming at the planet and Vlad never revealed himself and never offered to save it in exchange to world domination and 500 billion dollars. Honestly, I hated how the the third season turned a man who just wanted companionship into a money grubbing asshole who was totally in love with himself. Vlad Masters may be greedy, I'll admit that, but he wasn't the type to have security fan him with wads of cash on a hot day and have pictures of himself on EVERYTHING he owns. I also hate that he was just left in space to get hit by a giant rock. They tried to ruin a very cool character, and I just refuse to acknowledge the damage they tried to do to him.

No, Danny revealed himself to the world after he saved it, but that's pretty much what stayed the same. Everything else, you can just assume was trashed. I don't think it'll affect the plot in any kind of way, but I didn't want anyone wondering about it.

Oh, and yeah the chapter title was not a typo. Ever since I've written my off-shoot fic for this, Sins, I've found myself thinking about the Seven Deadly Sins a bit more. Hmm, I think that Wraith makes a good representative for wrath, though I'd say envy is close for him too. What can I say, it's a cool and easy theme to work with. The sins are common place, so you could find them everywhere really.

So anyway, reviews are welcome and loved. I really, really like reviews. Almost as much as I like Vlad/Danny smut. But since there's none of that in this story (sorry fellow fans, but I like Sam/Danny too and it fits better for the story) than I hope I get plenty of reviews to make up for that little loss.


	13. Painful Past pt 1

Hello faithful readers. I hope you are all doing well. ^_^ I'm in an exceptionally good mood for two reasons. One, I broke fifty reviews! This is the first time I have ever done that, and it makes me incredibly happy and proud of myself. Secondly, it the 13th chapter. That just makes me giddy for some reason. Yes, I'm weird like that, I know.

So, on to business. Danny Phantom, don't own. The plot for this fic and my OCs, do own. Don't want to steal, just write my own stuff. Please don't sue me Mr. Hartman, I have nothing you'd want, except maybe for the Vlad Plasmius poster hanging over my bed on my ceiling. Why would he want that? I dunno. Plasmius is just that hot.

Chapter Thirteen: Painful Past pt. 1

The faint beeping of the heart monitor was steadily starting to get on Vlad's nerves. Honestly, everything was getting on his nerves at the moment. The constant blip on that stupid screen next to him letting the doctors know he was still alive, the IV stuck in his arm, the fact that he didn't have enough strength currently to get out of his bed longer then ten minutes at a time. It was all killing him!

It wasn't just the room though. It was how he had gotten there, lying practically comatose in this bed for the last three months. He had been in here for so long, though it seemed much longer than it should have. It was if this was his own little world, and the outside had all but vanished, save from the occasional visit from doctors, nurses and his poor mother, the last stricken by worry and grief.

He knew there were risks that came with science, especially the kind he delved into. Things were dangerous, and maybe if he'd caused his own condition, maybe he wouldn't be so angry. But no, it hadn't been his fault. He hadn't been the one to do incorrect calculations without checking with his two partners. He hadn't been the one to throw the switch without seeing if everyone was clear first. He wasn't the impulsive moron that had stolen someone's life away!

He sighed and tried to calm himself down. It was an accident, just an accident. Jack hadn't done it on purpose. But still...

Vlad was hurting right now. He was in pain, physically and emotionally. The physical was obvious. Anyone could look at him and see something was wrong with his body. But more than that, more than anything, he missed his two friends.

He remembered they had come with him to the hospital. They'd been so scared and refused to leave his side. They'd even convinced the paramedics to let them come in the ambulance with him. Even if Jack had been responsible, his concern and guilt over what he had done was obvious enough for Vlad to be willing to forgive him.

That was the only time they'd ever come to the hospital.

He could accept they were busy at first. They had a lot to answer for and he'd seen on the news that both of them had almost ended up expelled and were having to do loads of community service instead of jail time. He could have accept their absence for a few weeks.

But a few months?

Their hours were over, and the things with the school had long since been cleared up. Their hard part was done, but for some reason, they saw no reason to come see him and help him through his.

He looked up at the ceiling, pale, dull, and lifeless. Just like everything else in this hospital, including himself.

Was he going to be like this forever? They'd stabilized his condition, knew he wasn't going to die, but he was still weak, still had the ecto-acne. At this point, he was bitter enough to think maybe death would have been better.

A soft knock interrupted his depressed thoughts and he looked up at the doorway, curious. None of the staff had ever bothered to see if they were disturbing him first, always just walking right in. His eyes widened a little in shock when he saw no one else but Maddie at the door, biting her bottom lip in nervousness and fidgeting a little.

"Can I... come in Vlad?" she asked a little uncertainly.

"Of course!" he said, unable to contain his sudden delight. He smiled at her warmly, immediately setting her at ease as he sat up with only the slightest effort.

She walked in, her heels click-clacking on the floor as she went up to his bed. Sitting down in the chair next to it, she sighed.

"I'm... I'm sorry for not coming by sooner," she said softly. "I kept telling myself I should... but I wasn't sure what I would say when I got here. Jack and I, we both feel so guilty about what happened."

"Where is Jack?" Vlad asked, wondering for a moment why she was alone. It wasn't that he was displeased with being alone with her, but he couldn't help but wonder about his other friend.

"He didn't come," Maddie admitted. "I almost didn't come myself. He's so ashamed of himself and I feel awful about everything too. We should have been more careful. We... Vlad, I can understand you being mad at us. If you want to hate me, I certainly couldn't blame you for it."

Vlad stared at the woman, totally shocked. Hate her? How could he ever hate her? Even if she'd been the one to throw that switch, even on purpose, he could never feel such dark feelings about her.

"Maddie," he said and reached out, stroking her hand with one of his. "I don't hate you, or Jack. It was... just an accident."

"I know, but-"

"Madeline," Vlad cut off suddenly. He knew he'd gotten her attention from using her actually name. No one ever called her that. "I don't hate you. In fact..."

He paused and wondered if this was really the best time to confess. He was stuck in a hospital bed, had next to nothing to his name, was practically disfigured with the curse infecting his face, and had no idea if his condition was ever going to change. How could Maddie ever love him like this?

"Vlad?" she asked, looking a little confused. "What is it?"

He shook his head. He wanted to tell her the truth, tell her how much he loved her, how most days he thought of nothing but her, but it wouldn't do any good right now. What could he ever offer her?

She took his reply and didn't argue. Instead they talked about other things. It was like he wasn't even sick anymore, just hanging out with her. It was pure bliss to be with her, and all the bitter thoughts he'd had the last few months melted away.

The hours passed, and finally she had to leave. He was sad to see her go, but he supposed he had to deal with it. She smiled at him in the dimming light that was coming through the windows and squeezed his hand softly.

"I'll come by again," she promised and stood.

"Okay," he said. "Don't wait so long until next time, okay? And bring Jack too."

She nodded and her smiled brightened.

"I will. He'll be happy to know you aren't mad at the both of us," she informed him. "Well, bye."

"Bye," he repeated back to her, waving a little as she left the room and went down the hall. He watched as long as he could through the windows before she fully disappeared from sight.

True to her word, she did visit again. It was only two days before she returned, much more cheerful than the last visit. Jack was with her as well. He seemed bright and upbeat, but Vlad could see there was still some guilt there. Vlad did his best to ease the feelings, just happy that he had his friends back with him. He knew he could beat this thing with them on his side.

Things continued that way for a few weeks, and he was happy again. It was not the same as in college, but he was more than satisfied. Maddie was back in his life and they were somehow becoming closer than ever. Maybe it was sympathy, or just a strange form of guilt, but he was happy for the looks she gave him, the smiles he could get from her simply by talking to her.

He thought it couldn't get any better, but she surprised him one night, showing up mere minutes before visiting hours should have been over, somehow looking just as nervous as when she'd first came to him.

"Maddie," he said, a little surprised. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Visiting of course," she replied, though even as she moved to sit next to him, she looked uncertain with herself. The way her eyes refused to meet his, the way she fidgeted with her skirt, even her lips pouting with worry let him know something was off.

"Maddie, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said and tried to relax. "It's just, I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh," he said. "I thought something bad had happened. But you know, we don't have very long. You came a little late." He chuckled suddenly. "Did Jack drive again? I know he has such a bad habit of getting cops to pull him over when he's in a rush."

"Actually, Jack isn't here," she said. "I came by myself this time. I wanted us to talk, just... just the two of us."

Vlad was a little surprised by this. The only time she'd come by herself was her first visit. What did they have to talk about, that somehow could not involve Jack?

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure how to say this," she said and cleared her throat. "I know right now it's a little weird, considering the circumstances, but I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Before that first visit, I was ready to just forget, because I thought you wouldn't even want to look at me after what had happened, but the truth is... I've liked you for a while Vlad."

"You... you like me?" Vlad asked, feeling a little shocked. "I... Really?"

She nodded.

"I never wanted to say anything, not sure if you wanted to just be friends or not," she explained. "But considering what happened, I can't just ignore my feelings. You could have died Vlad. I would have regretted not saying anything for the rest of my life if I had lost you. I want to explore these feelings, and see where they can lead me, and us if you want it."

He grinned suddenly, he couldn't help it. Here he was, thinking he had lost everything, his life, his friends, his chance at love, and she had come back to him and changed all of that so easily.

"Maddie," he said softly. "You don't have to worry about that. Of course I want that. I love you. I've loved you for a very long time."

She smiled brightly at the confession, suddenly hugging him enthusiastically. He could smell the soft fragrance of her strawberry shampoo and he felt like his head was swimming in happiness as he hugged her back. There was something in him that thought this had to be a dream, that it wasn't really true. It was so sudden, but he was more than happy for it all the same.

A sudden knock at the door broke the tender moment and both of them disentangled themselves from each other to see who it was. A nurse was standing there at the doorway, a clipboard and chart in her hand.

"Excuse me, visiting hours are over," she said. "I'm afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow, dear."

"Oh," the young woman said and stood up straight. "Of course. I guess I have to go. Sorry Vlad."

"Don't worry about it," he said and smiled at her softly. "It was really nice to see you Maddie."

"Vlad," she said. She reached out suddenly and clasped his hand in hers. "Get better soon."

Before he could reply she leaned forward suddenly, pressing her lips softly against his own. His eyes opened wide in shock as she pulled away and stood.

"Bye," she said and quickly left.

He stared after her, unable to believe what had just happened. Maddie... had kissed him. His mind tried to process the information, even as he grinned suddenly. Maddie had kissed him! She liked him! She loved him! If he could, he would have gotten out of the bed and started to dance, he was so happy.

"It seems she lifted your spirits a little," the nurse said as she smiled and walked into the room. She set the chart on the side table and proceeded to close the curtains, encasing the room in darkness before she slicked the lamp on.

"Yes," he agreed. "Very much so."

"Well, then I suppose you're already in the mood for some good news," she said with a smile. "Your condition is getting better."

"What?" he asked suddenly. "The doctors found a cure?"

"Not exactly," the nurse said. "But we've been monitoring your body. The systems are going down. It's a slow progress and the doctors aren't entirely sure how it's all working out, but we think the body is fighting it off. Chances are, you going to be out of here on your own power after a while."

He smiled brightly. This was exceptional news. It was like everything had just suddenly decided to work out for him, like someone was smiling down at him. He looked at the woman curiously.

"Do you happen to have a time frame in mind?" he asked, a little hopefully. He wanted to tell his friends so they could celebrate as soon as possible.

"Well, these things take time," she said. "No one is really sure yet, but we'll let you know once we have some kind of numbers. I'm sure you'll be eager to get out of here."

"Absolutely," he agreed.

"We've already contacted your mother," she let him know. "I imagine she's more than happy with the news. In any case, sleep well Mr. Masters."

He nodded his head. He was more than sure he would. There was a large part that was wondering if he was not just dreaming now. The nurse left and he smiled, looking up at the ceiling. He would be eager to be away from this place, back in the real world where, apparently, Maddie would be waiting for him.

#---------#

Pain seared in Vlad as he woke up suddenly, barley stifling his scream into his pillow. His skin felt as if it was on fire, barely keeping him from being able to think straight. What was going on? Was it the acne?

He frantically reached for the call button, knowing he needed to get help, but what he saw stopped him almost immediately. His skin, what had happened to it? Why was he blue?

He yanked his hand back to from the button. There was something inside of him that was telling him he did not want to let anyone see him like this. No, he needed to think first.

The pain was slowly fading and he looked over to the windows letting him see into the hall. No one was there, letting him know that at least he had not been discovered yet. Most of the lights were off and he knew it had to be very late at night.

With a small groan, he moved off the bed and made his way to the bathroom. He needed to see himself better, needed to know what was happening to him. Was it the ecto-acne? He thought he'd been doing better. It had been almost a year now. When was this going to end?

Stumbling to the bathroom, he groped for the switch. After a few moments, he found it and flicked it on, shutting the door almost immediately as to not draw any attention to himself with the light.

He saw the mirror, but he didn't move to look into it immediately. He didn't really want to look. Whatever was waiting for him in that mirror, it could not be good. He had no desire to see what other tragedy had befalling him.

Vlad knew that he had to look though. No matter what had happened, he needed to see it. He just had to have the guts to face it and deal with it.

Tentatively, he moved to the mirror. Fear coursed in him, making his body feel like lead as he moved to the glass. Bare feet drug over the cool, tile floor and he got to the front of the sink, grasping the porcelain with his pale blue hands. Swallowing, he looked up.

And almost screamed.

"Wha... what in the world am I?" he asked, taking a few steps back. He looked at his reflection in shock. His eyes were a vibrant red and his skin seemed a sickeningly pale shade of blue. It was only the beginning of his strange appearance though. Everything about him looked wrong, his hair, his teeth, anything he looked at, it was twisted and unfamiliar to him.

But as he stared at himself in the mirror, he raised a hand slowly and softly traced his face with his fingers. Aside from being blue, there was nothing wrong with it. The acne was gone completely. Really, it was hardly a thing to celebrate considering his now much worse condition, but he latched onto it anyway, trying to take comfort from it anyway. He needed something to make him feel better, and that was as good as any.

But what was he? He looked like some kind of demon, a monster from a story book of some kind. It actually scared him and he felt uncomfortable looking at the mirror for too long. It was too strange to deal with, and he wished it was only a dream, just a bad dream that he could wake up from and forget he had even had in the coming days.

A sudden pain flared in him and he couldn't hold back his scream this time. He stumbled from the intensity of it and grasped the sink, trying to hold himself up. It wasn't helping him keep stable though, and he was shaking uncontrollably. Taking a few deep breaths, he barely had time to wonder if he was going to live through this before his hands slipped limply from the porcelain and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

#---------#

"We don't understand it either. It was steadily becoming better, and then it suddenly vanished. It's like some kind of miracle what his body had been able to accomplish."

Vlad didn't listen to the doctor talking to his mother. He wanted to be out of this hospital and gone. Last night was still running in his mind like a bad nightmare. He had known however, that it had been real. He could still remember his horror as he stared at himself, how he'd crashed to that floor in agony. As if he'd needed further proof that it had been real, he'd been found on that very floor the next morning by the nurse. The blue skin had been gone, and so had the ecto-acne. The tests and excited talking had all gone by in a blur, too surreal for him and by the end of the day, he was getting released. After nearly a whole year, he was getting out of here.

The thing was, he didn't feel very happy about it. They said he was cured. It had been some kind of miracle that had spared him so suddenly. But he didn't feel cured, not really. He felt like his condition had just gotten much, much worse but he was the only one who knew.

He planned to keep it that way too.

He was finally getting out, and nothing was going to stop that. He wasn't happy per say, but he was more than eager. His world had been too small for too long. That was going to change though, and he was doing nothing to interfere with that.

Finally, he was going to have a real life again. A life with his friends, with opportunities and most importantly, Maddie. He wasn't going to keep her waiting any longer.

He just... needed to make sure she never found out about what he had turned into last night.

#---------#

The wedding had been wonderful, everything he had ever dreamed of. He had given Maddie everything to make this a special day for her, no matter what the cost. Not that he couldn't afford it. He had strayed away from science a little, putting his mind into business. It had been a gamble to take what was left of his college money and invest, but it had paid off. A simple two years had gone by, and he was now one of the richest men in Wisconsin. If things went the way he hoped, there would soon be no more "one of" in that title.

Of course, his newly acquired talents had helped. He had been experimenting with them for a while, trying to figure them all out. He'd found he could go back and forth as he pleased, be invisible, fly. It was almost like he was dead half the time. Like he wasn't real.

Like he was a ghost.

He'd just snuck into a meeting for a discussion on the stock market. It wasn't his intention to listen in. He'd just forgotten a stack of papers he really needed to copy. Internship was tough, and he could not afford to fall behind. But the information he had heard was priceless and he immediately decided to invest.

It not like what he had done was wrong. Yes, it was spying, but he was not hurting anyone. It was information he took and used, just wanting what anyone wanted, to be better off. Yes, he had not really been invited to any of the meetings he'd gone into, invisible and undetected, but it had not mattered to him. There were still risks to his finances. They had paid off though, and now he was sitting on a high spot in the financial world and still climbing.

And after all, was he not doing this for his love? He wanted to give her the best life possible, and with this fortune, he could do that.

She had never looked more beautiful as she walked down the aisle, a pure white dress fitting her body like a glove and glowing in a magical way only a bride could. Jack nudged him and grinned. Vlad gave his best man a smile in return. This truly was the best day of his life.

The vows were spoken, and Vlad held Maddie's hands in his own, vowing to love her forever, to live his life for her, to always be loyal and all the other things he knew would be effortless for him. He knew she was it, his world and all he needed. She was his perfection, and he loved her more than anything.

Yet, as those dreaded words came, doubt flickered in his mind. Speak now, or forever hold your peace. He was not scared of anyone in the seats saying anything. There was something inside of him that he felt he should tell her.

He was half ghost. He was the very thing she studied in order to hunt. There was nothing she enjoyed more than making a new invention to track them down and fight them. He encouraged her, but did not take part in it quite like he had in college. Something about all of it seemed off, wrong and foreboding.

Something in his mind screamed at him to say something. She deserved to know. They promised no secrets between them, to trust the other inexplicably. They were about to become man and wife, and he was breaking that major promise. What was a marriage, a whole relationship, without trust?

But the seconds crawled by and he said nothing. Neither did anyone else, and the priest, seeming satisfied by the pause, moved to the part Vlad was really looking forward to.

A soft whisper of "I do," and a passionate kiss later and his wife was in his arms as they hugged happily. Not just Maddie. His wife. His heart swelled and he grinned as he held her as people clapped and cheered, even a few women crying.

He told himself that it was all right. She didn't need to know right now. Not on the day that was suppose to be the happiest of their life. No, it could wait. There were better times to bring it up. It could wait.

#----------#

Vlad had never cared for hospitals. He just didn't like them. Staying in one for almost a full year had been enough for him, and he did his best to avoid them all together if he could.

He was pacing now, almost wishing he was not in one. Still, he could not have been anywhere else.

"What is taking so long?" he groaned. He was completely restless. Any time he tried to sit, he began to fidget, and any time he tried to stand up, he immediately took to pacing. He had nowhere to walk to though, and the senseless little circles were starting to irritate him.

"Mr. Masters," a voice called and the man immediately looked up in recognition. The doctor was standing there, a smile on his face. "She's ready to see you now. Would you like to check on her?"

Vlad would have scoffed at how stupid a question that was but instead ran past the doctor and to the room his wife was in. He burst in and she glanced at him, a tied but very happy look on her face.

"Oh Vlad," she whispered as he came closer. She held the small bundle of blankets to her chest and cooed at it softly. "We did it. Look at what we made."

Vlad stared at the small child in wonder. So small, and so seemingly helpless. Blue eyes blinked up at him and his heart thumped so hard it was almost painful.

"May I?" he asked softly and she nodded before lifting up the small thing for him to take. He did so carefully and looked down at the baby with wonder.

"Isn't he beautiful Vlad?" she asked.

"He is," Vlad agreed. "I'm a... father. Oh Maddie, we're parents!"

"I know," she said and smiled happily. "It feels wonderful, doesn't it?"

"It does," he agreed. "More than anything."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes, save for the baby making soft noises and moving around a little. Vlad held him close, just hugging the boy to him and telling himself he would love this wonderful little child forever.

"I suppose we should argue a little more about his name?" Maddie asked in a slightly teasing manner but Vlad only shook his head.

The two had gone back and forth between names, trying to find something just right for their child. Vlad had wanted something strong and fancy sounding, like his own, while Maddie had been insistent on something simple and fun. They still hadn't decided on anything, but as Vlad looked down at his son, he knew exactly what would fit.

"I think we should go with your suggestion, my dear," he said softly. "I think it would be perfect for him."

"You mean Danny?" she asked.

"Yes," he said and smiled down at the boy. "Little Daniel."

End of Chapter Thirteen

Ah, well I hoped everyone liked that. I really wanted to explore Wraith's past a little more, and this seemed like a perfect place to put it. I know this only focused on Vlad in this chapter, but his father plays a very important role in his life and skimming over this wouldn't have been right.

I tried to make Vlad basically the same while still making him a decent guy. He has Maddie despite his accident and budding powers that he may have used for a bit of personal gain but is also going to use them for good when the time comes. He even was able to keep his friendship with Jack, which I liked. I noticed in the episode of Bitter Reunions, Jack mentions after the accident the two never saw each other again. I always thought that was a bit bogus honestly.

I mean, if you had been hurt in an accident and the one who caused it was your supposed best friend that never came to visit you and ran off to marry the one you love, wouldn't you be pissed? I know Jack probably just felt guilty, but still...

Anyway, please review. They are all appreciated and I could always use some feedback.


	14. Painful Past pt 2

Here it is. Chapter 14 and the next part of Wraith's background. The reviews really spurred me on and I'm really glad that everyone was happy with the last chapter.

Quick disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I am not attempting Copyright Infringement. This is purely for mine and other's enjoyment.

Chapter Fourteen: Painful Past pt. 2

Daniel peeked into the study, large blue eyes staring at the back of his daddy as the man worked. He stayed hidden mostly by the door, clasping it with a small hand as he leaned over a little. It was dim in the room, only a single lamp on the desk providing light. He looked engrossed in the book he was flipping though and Daniel grinned, quietly moving past the door and tip-toeing up to him.

"Don't even think about it Daniel," the man said, not even pausing in his reading.

"Aw," the six-year-old pouted. "How'd you know, Daddy?"

Vlad turned around and smiled, scooping up his son and kissing his cheek.

"Magic," he replied.

"Daddy, there's no such thing," he argued with a little frown on his face that was still a little pudgy from baby fat.

"Oh yeah?" Vlad asked and reached behind the boy's ear. He poked around a little, making his son giggle before pulling his hand back, a quarter in his fingers. "Then how did I get this out of your ear?"

Daniel's eye lit up and he grinned, reaching for the quarter.

"Gimme! Please!" he cried out.

Vlad laughed and pushed the quarter in his groping hands. The boy was so easy to please, but most children that age were.

"So, what are you doing down here?" Vlad asked. "Shouldn't you be with your mother?"

"Mommy's not here," Daniel said softly. "The nanny was with Danielle, and I was lonely."

"Daniel," Vlad said but the boy only grinned.

"But it's okay cause I got to see Daddy," he exclaimed happily. "So it's okay Mommy isn't here."

"Oh Daniel," Vlad sighed. "Your mother... well, she's busy a lot."

"Chasing ghosts?"

Vlad looked away for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, chasing ghosts. Mommy works very hard at what she does."

"Why?"

"Well... cause some ghosts are dangerous, and need to be caught. Without people like your mommy, they'd just roam free and do whatever they wanted," Vlad explained. "Mommy does it cause she loves her family, especially you and Danielle."

"So, mommy is like a hero?" Daniel asked, smiling brightly. "Wow. Why don't you chase ghosts, Daddy?"

Vlad laughed.

"Well, Daddy is a little busy with his own work," he replied. "I work with a lot of numbers and boring stuff. Mommy's work is a bit too exciting for Daddy."

"Aw, you're excit... excit... you're neat Daddy."

"I'm glad you think so," Vlad said and gave him a small hug. "That means a lot to Daddy. So, you wanna help me?"

Daniel scrunched up his face.

"Nuh uh," he whined. "I wanna play. Play with me Daddy."

Vlad sighed and rolled his eyes. Really, he had a bit of work to do, but it was rather close to his son's nap time. He smiled softly. He certainly could spare a half hour or so.

"All right. What do you want to play?" he asked, giving in as he set his son down.

"Chess," Daniel said, his face set determinedly. The stubborn look on a face so young was too adorable and Vlad almost cooed and picked him up to squeeze him.

"I keep telling you, you're too young to play chess. It's a big person game."

"Daddy," Daniel whined and hugged his legs. "I wanna. Please? Pwetty pwease?"

"Daniel, don't talk like that. You know better."

"Then play chess with me."

Vlad threw his hands up in the air. The boy could be as stubborn as his mother.

"Oh, all right. I'll play chess with you," he said. "And then you are going down for a nap, young man."

Vlad carried his son over to the living room, sitting the boy down and set up the board. Vlad really wasn't trying all that hard, but it was still relatively easy. Still, the boy was good for someone his age. Vlad wasn't like one of those parents who just thought their children were gifted. He knew his boy was special. Smart, but admittedly a bit spoiled. Vlad supposed it was normal though. A rich family and a father who spent so much time with him at the minimal bit of begging.

If his mother would just...

Vlad stopped his line of thinking and sighed. He didn't want to go down that road. He couldn't really blame Maddie. It wasn't that she didn't spend time with the children. She was a wonderful mother. But... she got so easily side-tracked. She only needed something flashy to catch her eyes and she immediately wanted to work on it. Not to mention, even though she believed so much about ghosts, she couldn't understand how it was important just to let children believe little nonsense.

Vlad knew there was no such thing as Santa Claus, but why she had to argue with him every year about letting the kinds leave out milk and cookies was beyond him.

She was scientific to a fault sometimes. But she was still a good mother. It was... just a quirk.

"Daddy?"

Vlad looked up suddenly when he saw his son looking at him curiously. Realizing he'd spaced out, he smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, son," he said. "Is it my move?"

"Uh huh. For a while now Daddy."

"Of course," he said and looked at the board before smiling and moving a piece. "Checkmate."

Daniel stared at the board and pouted.

"It was a very good game," Vlad assured him. "I had fun spending time with you. Did you like being with me?"

Daniel looked away for a second before smiling and nodding.

"Yeah."

"Good, than it's time for your nap," he said and scooped the boy up. "Come on."

He got the boy in his bed with minimal fuss and went to check on Danielle. She was knocking over blocks and roaring like a monster while the nanny cleaned her room. Giving a squeal of delight when she saw Vlad, she reached for her father who scooped her up and kissed her forehead, earning a giggle.

"Is she being a good girl?" he asked the woman.

"Oh, yes sir. A treasure as always," the woman replied and took the girl, rubbing her nose against the laughing toddler.

"Well, I see she's entertained, so I'll get back to work," he said. "Make sure she's fed."

"Of course, sir," he was told. He left the room and made his way back to the living room in order to reset the board before going back to work. The door opened and he looked up to see Maddie walk in, her expression weary and her shoulders sagged.

"Hello dear," he said. "You look tired."

"I am tired," she sighed. "That ghost was fast, it was impossible to corner him at first. I could have sworn that new gun would work too, but he just phased right though it. Those people's house was a mess."

"House?" Vlad asked suddenly. "Maddie, did you break into someone's house?"

"I didn't break in," she replied a little hotly. "The ghost did. I had to catch it."

"Did you ask permission or at least warn them?" he asked, knowing he was hoping in vain.

"There was no time!" she exclaimed.

"Oh god," he muttered and shook his head.

"Their lives were at stake!" she shot back as she stood up roughly. "What would have had me do?"

"Maddie, let's not fight," he sighed.

She scowled and looked away before he sighed.

"I'm sorry. You're right," he conceded. "Things happen, and I know you're helping people. I didn't mean to snap."

"I'm sorry too," she said softly and hugged him. "I guess I was just frustrated."

"So what happened?" he asked as he released her and she smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you asked," she said and held up the a metallic looking thermos. "Jack is a genius. He actually got it to work. Granted... I had to be the one to figure out how to open it, but the important thing is that it works."

"Wait, you mean the ghost is in there?" Vlad asked, getting a nod from his wife.

"It's stuck until I press the release button," she answered. "For now, I'll be keeping it in one of the anti-ghost vaults. Once I have the portal working, I can send it back where it belongs."

"You've been working on that portal for a while," Vlad teased lightly. "Are you ever going to finish it?"

"Someday I'll get it right," she assured him. "But you know, it's be easier if you would help. Jack and I could both really use you."

Vlad frowned.

"Honey, you know I don't have any interest in that kind of thing anymore," he replied.

"I know," she answered. "I understand, the accident was a horrible experience for you. I just wanted to let you know we would appreciate you on the team again."

She kissed his cheek softly and smiled at him. He smiled back at her before frowning softly.

"Hmm? What is it?" she asked.

"Daniel missed you today," Vlad mentioned.

"Oh," Maddie said and wilted a little. "I got ta call from Jack. He really needed my help. I knew the nanny could handle the children."

"Handle?" he asked.

"I'll make it up to Danny," she said with a smile, seemingly ignoring his tone. "Why don't we spend this Saturday at the park, just the four of us? No work, no ghost hunting, just family time."

"I suppose being busy just comes with the lifestyle," Vlad said, though he still felt a little unsure. "But try to get some time in with Daniel, just the two of you. I can certainly take care of Danielle for a little while."

Maddie laughed.

"Of course you can dear, just like last time?" she asked, her tone a little playful.

"She is hyper," Vlad admitted. "But I can certainly keep from giving her any kind of ice-cream next time."

"Sure you can," she replied, not sounding as if she believed him at all.

#---------#

"You stayed at the office a long time today."

Vlad froze at the paperwork he was pouring over. The tone in his wife's voice was icy and he didn't have to look up at her to see she was not happy with him.

"Yes... I had extra work to do," he said evasively.

"Doing what?"

Vlad sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He had thought the problems were going to be over when he had convinced his wife to have the portal at their own house instead of at Jack's. She would still be doing what she loved and would be home more often. It meant more time with the kids and him. It hadn't occurred to him that her spending so much more time at the house would let her notice his lack of absence like this.

"I was conducting some business with a potential partner," he replied and looked up. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just want to know why you've been working so late for the past two weeks now," Maddie replied, though her demeanor let him know that something was in fact wrong. "You haven't been available at all."

"This coming from you?" he muttered.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she demanded.

"What do you think it means?" he asked her as he glared a little. He was tired, in pain, and not in the mood for this at all. "I had to beg you stay home and spend time with the family. I mean, Daniel's eight and Danielle's six and I could count the number of times you've been there for their whole birthday without even using both my hands. You've been putting your inventions and ghost hunting ahead of us for years and I spend two weeks at the office and you get upset?"

"Hey, I'm trying," she said. "It's not my fault Jack lives so far away! He and I are partners in this. And what was the point of me trying to spend more time home if you were just going to disappear? Was that the whole reason you wanted me back so bad. So you would be free to do your own thing?"

"I wanted you home to spend time with us. I'm allowed to be busy at times too though," he said and stood up roughly, but immediately regretted it, his side searing in pain. He winced and barely refrained from grabbing his side in front of her.

"Vlad, is something the matter?" she asked, her face lined with worry and was quickly by his side. She reached out for him but he immediately withdrew, swatting her hands away.

"Let me be," he growled, more from pain than anger, but she didn't take it that way.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked, tears brimming in her eyes. "I thought you wanted me home! Why won't you come near me anymore?"

"Oh yes, a month has been wonderful," he snapped at her. "After how much begging?"

"Don't you say it like that," she said. "I have a very demanding job. You can't schedule ghost attacks."

"You think I don't know th..." Vlad trailed off and shook his head. He'd almost said something very, very stupid. "Please Maddie, I just want to be left alone. I just have a stomach ache. It's just from the stress at work. It's making me... irritable."

He tried to smile reassuringly at her, but she didn't return it.

"Fine," she said softly after a moment. "I guess I'll just be in the lab."

He watched her walk away with a sigh and shook his head before easing back down in his chair. His body screamed at him in protest, but he did his best to ignore it. Really, he shouldn't be moving at all, but he couldn't let anyone know something was wrong.

He really should just tell her the truth. Wouldn't that solve everything? He remembered just a couple weeks ago and quickly shook his head.

No. Her suspicion... it was a thousand times better than her reaction to knowing the truth. His side still burned from the ecto-beam she's shot at him, not even knowing it was her husband she was shooting at. She didn't know he'd been trying to stop Spectra, not help her.

He really should be in the hospital, but there was no way explain he could think of for the large burn on his side that was rife with the signature of the ecto-energy from her gun. Even without his general dislike of hospitals, he could never risk it. She would figure it out so easily, he might as well just write a confession out to her.

It had been the main reason he'd hidden away at his work or in his study, not even slipping into bed until she had long since fallen asleep, and considering the late hours she put in to the lab, would sometimes be mere hours before he would wake up and go to work to lock himself up in his office.

He knew the actions were suspicious, but what else could he do?

How would she react, knowing the very ghost she'd dubbed "The Wisconsin Ghost" was her own husband? She'd never accept it, knowing he was some half-ghost freak. She thought he was a menace, a threat, like every other ghost.

"What am I doing?" he asked. Why was he risking so much? It wasn't his responsibility to help others. He shouldn't have to use his powers just because he had them.

He knew it was foolish, but it didn't mean he could stop. Maybe no one was forcing him but himself, but that didn't mean anything. Turning his back on people he could help... just wouldn't be right.

He sighed again and went back to his paperwork. Now wasn't the time to be arguing with his morals. He needed to focus on other things, and he could see to this problem in the morning. He could smooth things over with Maddie. He always had been able to before.

_#---------#_

"Dad! Dad, look at what I can do!"

"What is it Daniel?" Vlad asked and looked down before his eyes grew wide. His ten-year-old son stood by his side in the kitchen, a huge smile on his face as pink ecto-energy danced between his fingertips, sparkling and popping as he laughed.

"Aren't I special?" he asked, grinning happily.

"Daniel! Stop that!" Vlad cried out and grabbed his son's wrists before the power fizzled out. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!"

"Dad?" Daniel asked, his face falling as worry crept into his eyes. "Dad... what's wrong?"

Vlad stared down at his son and sighed, dropping down to his knees and hugging him. His heart was racing as he held the boy, his mid going just as fast. How... how had Daniel been able to do that? Was he... Vlad swallowed hard and wondered what else Daniel could do, and for how long had he been able to do it.

"Did I do something bad?" Daniel asked softly but Vlad immediately shook his head.

"No. No... you didn't do anything wrong Daniel. You didn't do a thing wrong at all. I... I'm sorry I snapped. You just surprised me, that's all." He took a deep breath and pulled away to look at him better. "How long have you be able to... do that trick?"

"Actually, just today," Daniel said. "It was really weird, but when I woke up, I felt really tingly all over. I don't know. Maybe it happened when I fell out of the bed. Think maybe I hit my head and it let me do this?"

"You fell out of the bed?"

"I guess so," he said. "I woke up underneath of it this morning. I thought I had just... I don't know, fell and maybe rolled underneath of it."

"Phasing...?" Vlad asked softly.

"Dad?"

The man quickly shook his head.

"Daniel," he said and took his son's shoulders. "This is important. I need you to tell me, have you shown this to your mother?"

"No," Daniel replied and looked confused. "How could I? She left for the ghost hunter's convention with Uncle Jack two days ago, remember?"

"Oh, yes of course. I had forgotten for a moment," Vlad said. "Daniel, listen to me. I need you to make me a promise. You can never tell anyone about what you can do, do you understand?"  
"Why? Dad, what's going on? You're acting weird."

The man stood and thought for a moment. He didn't have a choice. He didn't know how it had happened, but he still had to tell him. Daniel was just a boy. He couldn't be expected to stumble through this on his own, not like Vlad had been forced to. What kind of father would he be if he ignored his own son's problem?

"Daniel," he said. "Come with me. We need to talk."

Curiosity must have kept the boy from asking any follow up questions because he was following Vlad without an question. Vlad tried to keep his calm as he went to the lab. It was honestly the only place he could think of to go to for something like this.

He reached the lab and led Daniel in, making sure the door was securely shut before turning to his confused looking son.

"Daniel," he said. "I need to ask you some things before we talk. I know this is very confusing, but I need you to be truthful with me. I need to understand why you have these powers."

"Powers?"

"Yes Daniel," Vlad replied. "I think the most important thing I need to ask you, have you ever gone near your mother's portal? Ever?"

"Are you kidding? Mom would kill me," Daniel said and shook his head. "She said it's dangerous for little kids."

"It dangerous for adults too," Vlad muttered and crossed his arms. "You're sure you've never gone near it? You have to be completely honest with me."

"No, never," Daniel replied. "I promise you Dad. But what does the portal have to do with anything?"

"Everything," he answered. "Daniel, remember how we told you that I was in an accident in college? It's why my hair is white, and why I don't work with your mother and Jack on their inventions?"

"Yeah?" Daniel said. The expression on his face made it obvious he didn't know where this was going.

"Well, the truth is... it did something to me," he explained. "I never planned to tell anyone about this. I wanted to take it to the grave, and never tell a soul. This secret, I'm terrified it could ruin my marriage, my life, maybe even make me lose you and Danielle. But... now I know I have to show you the truth. We don't have any choice."

"Dad, you're kind of scaring me," Daniel said uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"

"Just... Daniel, just please don't panic," he said softly before two dark circles enveloped him, changing himself to Plasmius. He looked at his son, who was staring at him, his eyes wide and his face suddenly pale in surprise. "Daniel, I know this is shocking but-"

"Oh wow!" Daniel cried and ran up to him, a smile on his face. "Dad, I can't believe it! You're the one on the news all the time? I had no idea! This is so cool! Can you teach me how to do that? Why did you never tell us?"

"Daniel?" Vlad asked. "You... aren't scared?"

"Uh... Dad, I just make fireworks with my fingers and found out your a superhero. Why would I be scared?"

"Superhero," Vlad chuckled. "A refreshing view point."

"Well, I know Mom doesn't like him... er... Wait a minute. Mom doesn't know about this, does she?"

"No," Vlad said. "I've kept it from her. Actually, I developed an ability that allows me to duplicate myself. It's the only way I've been able to continue on like this for so long without rousing suspicion, and even then, there have been some near misses. I've done my best to keep anyone from finding out, because I never thought any good could come from it. I don't think she would accept me like this."

"Would she... accept me?" Daniel asked, both looking and sounding worried.

Vlad smiled softly and knelt down to lay his hands down on his son's shoulders.

"Don't worry," Vlad said. "She never has to find out. I don't know how this happened, I can only imagine you somehow inherited it from me. Don't worry. I'm going to teach you how to control it."

"Wait a minute, what about Danielle? I mean, won't she be affected too?" Daniel asked. "What if she's just like me, and got powers from you too?"

"I don't know," he said and shook his head. "But I promise you, I will figure it out. For know, we need to concentrate on you."

End of Chapter Fourteen

Okay, that's the second part of Painful Past. I'm expecting this will wrap up in two more chapters, one at the least. Depends on how it plays out.

This chapter was actually a little harder to write than I had anticipated. I needed to show there were problems in the marriage without it being so bad they couldn't stand each other. Vlad and Maddie really do love each other, but their problems are getting worse as the years go on. They're getting distant, and Vlad's still keeping secrets from her. It's bound to put problems in any relationship. I wanted to show despite her actions, not everything was entirely her fault. Overall though, I think I did a decent enough job here.

As always comments are more than welcome and appreciated.


	15. Painful Past pt 3

About time we wrap up Painful Past. I'm starting to feel guilty for putting Wraith through this. Is that normal or an I just being too empathetic with a fictional character?

Well, Danny Phantom still isn't mine. It never will be either, so oh well. That's life. I can only hope one day that I'll create something so cool that fans will write fanfiction about it and go, "Yeah, I don't own this. Don't that suck?" Yep, that's my goal. Honestly, I would consider it to be a high compliment.

Also, I want to apologize real quick for a lack of any kind of schedule for these last few updates. Right now finals are approaching and I'm getting to this whenever I can. I know I usually do two chapters a week, but that obviously hasn't been happening lately. I promise in a few weeks, I'm going to be less busy and the updates will be more frequent. For now, I hope you don't mind the slightly shaky update pattern.

Chapter Fifteen: Painful Past pt. 3

Vlad stood in front of the podium, the cameras on him and the whole world watching, and took a breath. If there was any way he could have chosen to reveal his secret, this most certainly was not it. But what choice did he have? This had to be done in order to save the planet, his children... and his wife.

"People of the world," he started, "I know in this time of crisis, time is short and valuable, so I don't plan on wasting any of it. I have a plan in order to save this planet, a plan that involves a very deep secret I have been keeping."

"You think this is going to work?" Danielle asked Daniel as they stood close by in an alley. Their father had forbidden them from attending to him presenting his plan in case something went wrong and he was met with hostility. Not that that had kept them from coming, they were just doing their best to stay out of sight.

"I don't know," Daniel replied and shook his head. "Turning the whole planet intangible? I mean, this is going to take the cooperation of everyone. The plan may be solid, but getting the help..."

"Dad already tried to turn the asteroid intangible. This is our last hope," Danielle whispered as she saw her father morph to his ghost form. The shock of the crowd was obvious and she sighed. "Hoo boy, this isn't going to be pretty."

"Mom certainly didn't see this coming," Daniel sighed and took his little sister's hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Dad told us to stay out of this, but he's going to be doing enough trying to convince all the people here to help him. We need to get to the Ghost Zone."

"Gee, sounds like fun," Danielle commented. "At least we have Skulker on our side."

"Yeah, but it's going to take more than our babysitter to help us out."

"Body guard," she corrected. "You know Dad gets worried about us."

"He certainly pays the mercenary enough for it," Daniel said with a smile. "And from the look on Mom's face, he may need to protect Dad for a while."

"Daniel, don't even joke about that."

#---------#

"WE DID IT!" Danielle screamed as she tackled her father. He stumbled back with a little 'oof' and hugged her back. "I never thought it would be possible, but we did it!"

Daniel smiled and almost moved in to hug his father and sister as well, even as the large crowds at the North Pole cheered for their new saviors. Smiling, he turned to his mother, expecting her to join them but she only frowned and took a step back as he reached for her.

"Mom?" he asked softly and Vlad and Danielle looked up at her as well.

"I... I'm sorry," she said softly. "I... just can't."

Daniel's eyes widened as she turned her back on them, quickly pushing her way through the crowds. She hadn't turned away fast enough for him to see the tears in her eyes though, to see the rejection.

"Maddie..." Vlad whispered and pulled a still numb Daniel into the family hug that now seemed much more forced. "It's okay. Don't worry, it's going to be okay. She'll... she'll come around."

#---------#

"Maddie! For the love of god, please just wait!"

"Get your hands off of me!"

Daniel covered his ears, not wanting to hear the argument. His parents didn't argue. They had disagreements, but they had always talked it out. They had never raised their voices at each other before, and now they were yelling and screaming at each other.

"Is... she really leaving us?"

Daniel looked up at his sister, standing at the door and looking worried.

"Their yelling is echoing up from the lab," he sighed. "I think she's made it pretty obvious she doesn't want to stay with us."

"I don't get it!" she yelled and stomped her foot. "Why is she leaving? We saved the world! Doesn't she see we aren't evil?"

"She doesn't care," he muttered. "We're ghosts. That's all she sees. There's no talking to her about it."

"I'm not letting her leave, she's our mom," Danielle said stubbornly and swiftly turned and left the room.

"Danielle!" he cried out and stood, following her quickly as she ran to the lab. "Danielle, just leave them alone."

"Maddie, please I'm begging you, don't leave me," Vlad pleaded as his wife quickly stuffed inventions in a large gym bag, tears running down her face.

"Just leave me alone!" she yelled at him. "I can't believe all the years I've wasted with you! You've been lying to me this whole time! Your own wife!"

"I never meant to hurt you, I swear. I love you Maddie. We can work this out!"

"I don't want to work this out!" she yelled and rounded on him. "Don't you get it? I regret everything! I wish I had never married you! I wish I had ignored my instinct to come see you in that hospital that day and I wish I never had those, those... _things_ in my body!"

"Maddie!" Vlad cried out, both in anger and shock before he saw his two children, standing at the door of the lab, the horror on their face identical at the words they had heard. "Please, don't do this. Maybe I lied to you, but those are your children."

"I wish they weren't!" she yelled, not seeming to care at all. "They aren't even human!"  
"Maddie, stop this!" Vlad shouted at her, grabbing her arm angrily. "I'm not going to let you walk out of your family! Their is nothing wrong with us and I can't believe I ever thought there was! You're being impossible!"

"Let me go!"

"Not until you listen!"

"Dad, stop it!" Daniel yelled. "Just let her go!"

"Daniel, just stay out of- Ugh!"

Time seemed to slow down for Daniel as he watched his father fall to the ground. The scream coming from his sister seemed so far off, even though she was right next to him. He stared at his mother, an ecto-gun in her hands, as she stood over her husband. He was clutching his chest, blood pooling from the wound and coughing up blood.

He stood frozen, not being able to do anything but stare. It felt like his heart was caught in his throat and he could barely breath. Even as his sister tugged at his arm and begged him to do something, he just stood, completely shocked.

Maddie looked up at her children and snarled suddenly, raising her pistol.

"Daniel!" Danielle screamed desperately at him as she continued tugging at his arm. "Daniel, please! Snap out of it!"

Daniel only swallowed before clenching his eyes shut. Danielle's eyes widened and quickly shifted to her ghost form, forming a shield just as her mother shot at them.

"Daniel! For the love of god, grab Dad! He's bleeding! We have to help him! DO SOMETHING!" she screamed, snapping him out of his shock. He looked down at his father and shook his head, quickly going ghost as well and picking him up, cradling him to his chest and not even caring about the blood soaking into his clothing.

"We have to go!" he said quickly. "Come on, we can get him to the hospital!"

"O-okay," Danielle said and lowered the shield, firing a shot at her mother to knock her back before the two fled.

#---------#

The heart monitor beeped faintly as Daniel stood next to his father, shaking a little.

"Dad..." he whispered as his father lay in the hospital bed, motionless save for his faint breathing. "Dad, you have to be okay. Please... I... I can't do this on my own. We need you, Danielle and I both need you. Please Dad, I love you."

He gripped Vlad's hand and squeezed, trembling a little. He gave a small gasp of shock when the hand twitched and Vlad's eyes opened slowly and he looked up at his son.

"Daniel..." he breathed raspingly.

"Dad!" he said in surprise. "Dad, don't try to talk. The doctors said you-"

"Daniel, wait..." his father said. Even though his voice was weak, it cut Daniel off as effectively as if he was shouting at the boy. "I'm so sorry... about all of this. I... I never meant for this to happen."

"Dad, don't talk like that. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I did. I lied, just like... just like she said. All these years, and I made... I made you two lie as well. It was all so I could be with her. I was selfish."

"You weren't being selfish!" Daniel exclaimed. "You just wanted to do the right thing! You raised me and Danielle to use our powers right, and we saved the world!"  
"Seems like a good sacrifice," Vlad said and coughed softly.

"Dad, don't talk like that. It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You're strong, I know you are."

Vlad smiled up at his son, thought the expression was wistful at best.

"You're the strong one Daniel. And... I need to to continue to be strong, for Danielle. She's... going to need you."

"No... NO! Don't you dare talk like that! You're going to be okay!" he cried, even as he felt the grip on his hand get weaker.

"Daniel, please... I just need you to promise me," Vlad whispered out. "I love Maddie. The only thing I love more... are you kids. She did what she did... she thought it was right, in her own way. She's not guilty. It's my fault."

"She shot you!" Daniel yelled. "Dad! Just stop it!"

"Please... she's your mother. Don't hate her," his father spoke, his voice getting softer. His hand went limp in Daniel's and his eyes slid shut, the heart monitor screaming into life, alerting the nurses and doctors on the floor. Daniel watched, horrified, as he was pulled out of the room and watched the staff try to save his father.

Hearing footsteps running towards him after a few minutes, he saw Danielle coming at him and quickly grabbed her, holding her back from the room.

"NO!" she screamed and tried to tug out of his grip. "Let me go!"

"Danielle, Danielle, stop!" Daniel grunted and tried to hold her back. The doctors movement were getting less and less hurried, more and more hopeless.

"I need to help him! I said let me go!" she cried out desperately.

"Danielle! Stop it!" Daniel yelled and suddenly pinned her against the wall, looking into her tear-filled eyes. "You don't want to see this! You don't want this to be the last thing you remember about him! Go back to talking to the police!"

"NO!" she screamed and tried to yank out of his grip. "Let me go Daniel! Please!"

"Danielle," he whispered as he heard the machine stop giving off the horrible sound and the doctors stopped shouting instruction. It had all become deathly quite. "He's gone. We're all we have left."

"Get off of me!" she screamed and suddenly yanked her hands away, shoving him away and running into the room. He closed his eyes as she screamed, weakly leaning against the wall, shaking.

Tiredly, he made his way down the hall, wanting to be anywhere else tight now. He felt numb, and his body wouldn't stop trembling as he walked slowly, his steps heavy, as if he were sleep walking.

Somehow he found himself out of the hospital, though he had no memory of how he got outside. A loud crack of thunder sounded overhead and he looked up. The dark sky flashed with lightening and rain appeared in the sky, almost instantly drenching him and everything else. People ran out of the rain, so hurried in their rush to get somewhere dry they weren't even paying attention to the boy standing right outside the hospital and just letting himself get soaked to the bone.

Clenching his eyes shut, his hands tightened into fist and he suddenly screamed as loud as he could, all his hatred and pain holding a long, horrible shriek.

People watched, shocked as dark circles enveloped the boy and he fell to his knees, hitting the ground with his fist, again and again, creating deep cracks in the concrete.

"No... NO! NO! NO! NO!" he screamed as he pounded on the ground with every scream. He looked up at the sky, anger sketched on every detail of his face. "HE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO HIM?"

He received no answer and he placed his hands on the shattered stone and sobbed, his whole chest burning. This wasn't fair. Daniel hadn't done anything wrong? Why was this happening to him?

"Don't hate her?" he whispered. "Don't hate her?"

His eyes flashed and he looked up, ignoring the ones staring at him, not giving a damn what they thought.

"I'm not letting you get away with this," he hissed.

#---------#

Daniel stood in front of Jack Fenton's doorway. He felt surprisingly calm about this. More than he really should have. He didn't let himself think anything of it though. It didn't matter. He was going to do this, and he was going to make that woman pay.

Already in his ghost form, he calmly raised his hand to the door and powered up an ecto-blast. Letting it loose, the door blasted apart easily and he stepped inside. He saw his mother hastily arguing with Jack and they both looked up at Daniel, who was frowning at them both.

"Hello mom," he said softly as he walked forward. "I've been wondering where you were. I've been looking for you for weeks."

"Daniel, wait," Jack said and moved towards him. "I've been talking to Maddie. She called me afterwards and I'm trying to convince her to turn herself in."

"Jack," Daniel said. "Move."

"Daniel?" Jack asked before the boy suddenly blasted him out of the way, slamming him into a wall and instantly knock him into unconsciousness.

"Jack!" Maddie screamed and ran to her partner, only to have Daniel teleport in front of her and punch her crudely in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"He's fine," Daniel said as he looked down at her. "Father isn't though. He's dead. Are you happy now? He tried so hard to make you happy. Maybe this finally did the trick."

She didn't bother with the banter, instead scrambling up to her feet and running from the room and towards her lab. He let her go, not really caring as he followed her at a walk. She wasn't getting away anyway. What did it matter how long this took?

"Mother, are you down here?" he asked as he walked down the stairs, the door sliding open for him. "Come on, don't you want to play with your son?"

His arm raised suddenly, grabbing the gun from her hand and kicking her crudely in the stomach before she could even try to catch him by surprise. He grabbed her that with his other hand before she could even double over and drove his knee into her stomach. He let her stumble back as he charged the gun with ecto-energy, causing it to short circuit and explode.

"You shouldn't bother trying to fight," he said softly. "You don't have a chance against me."

She snarled and grabbed another gun, shooting at him. Frowning, he hit the blast away easily. He stalked at her and slapped it out of her hands, grabbing her wrists and punching her in the face. Growling suddenly, energy flared in his hand that was holding her before shocking her harshly, causing her to scream.

"I HATE YOU!" he yelled at her and threw her to the ground, kicking her harshly in the stomach. "YOU KILLED HIM, YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU KILLED HIM IN COLD BLOOD AND WENT AFTER ME AND DANIELLE! DIDN'T YOU LOVE US? WEREN'T WE GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!"

He kicked her again, comforted by her screams of pain. Somehow it eased him to know he could hurt her, that he could make her feel even a fraction of how he felt.

"I hope it was worth it," he hissed angrily and spat on her. "I really hope you enjoyed your little moment, because mine is going to be much, much longer."

He walked away from her and looked around the lab, wondering what he should use on her first. There was so much to choose from. He didn't see her struggle to sit up, pulling a small device from her pocket.

"What do you think we should do first mom? I guess you should have a say in this too," he said flatly as he turned back to her just as she threw an ecto-grenade at him. His eyes widened but he couldn't turn intangible fast enough before it crashed landed in the portal he was standing next to. It exploded and he screamed as the metal slashed several place across the right side of his face, blood splattering onto the floor.

He gasped from the pain and held a hand up to his cheek, the pain making him feel as if his face was on fire. Looking up at his mother as she shakily tried to stand, he let his hand drop and glared at her.

"Enough," he growled out and stomped over to her. He grabbed her throat with both of his hands and slammed her into the wall, smiling sickeningly at her. "I don't think you know exactly how I feel, but don't worry. I'm going to take as long as I need to explain it to you."

"Why don't you just kill me?" she snarled at him.

"Oh, I will, trust me," he hissed in her face. "Once I feel better, and _that_ is going to take a lot of time."

He looked at her hands clawing at his wrists as she tried to get free and shrugged.

"Well, why not? We can start small," he said and took her left hand, effortlessly pulling the appendage off of him and took her thumb between his own and his forefinger, smiling suddenly before he pushed it backwards, the snap quickly getting drown out by her screams.

#---------#

"Danielle, let me help you!"

"I said stay away from me!" Danielle screamed, one hand shakily holding her bleeding shoulder and the other holding an ecto-blast that flared dangerously. "She's gone Daniel! I let her go and she's not going to get hurt by you again!"

"I hurt her?" Daniel demanded as the stood in the graveyard, the sky above them pitch black. He tried to move closer, but she only took several steps back, glaring at him. "Danielle, she's shot you! She killed Dad! He's lying right there in that grave! How can you still care about her well being?"

"She's still our mother!" she yelled at him. "You would have killed her if I hadn't stop you and got her away. Don't you get it? YOU BROKE HER! She couldn't even tell the difference between you and me! She shot me and ran away because she was scared! Look at what you did to her! She's so far gone, she can't even remember what she did!"

"Then I'll make her remember! If I can't forget, then she can't! Dad is gone because of her!"  
"Dad would be ashamed of you!" she screamed suddenly, shocking him. "He didn't want this! It goes against everything he ever taught us! I know it hurts, but what you've done is unforgivable!"

"Danielle..." he whispered. "Danielle... please, let me help you."

She shook her head venomously and took another step back.

"You're nothing but a monster," she whispered as tears started to fall down her face. "I wish Mom had shot you instead."

Whipping around suddenly, she flew off as fast as she could go, leaving him to just watch her leave. He swallowed and fell to his knees, crying.

#---------#

Daniel walked through the stones of the graveyard, the dusk setting of the atmosphere ensuring his privacy. The place closed several hours before the sun set, locked away against vandals and trouble-makers. It didn't keep him out, but then, he was neither of those anyway.

He looked up at the grave he was making his way towards and was shocked to see someone already standing in front of it in a long, wearing a black dress and her black hair hanging over her shoulders instead of her usually ponytail. She suddenly looked up from the stone and whirled around, as if sensing him.

"Wait!" he said and immediately threw up his hands in his defense, trying to keep her calm before she tried to fight him, or worse yet, tried to run off. "I'm not here for trouble. I just came to see him."

She lowered her clenched fists and glared at him.

"You have no right to be here," she hissed.

"He is my father too Danielle," he said softly.

"Was," she corrected angrily.

He looked at her and sighed.

"I thought you had died," she whispered softly. "No one has heard from you in half a year."

"I haven't had a reason to let people see me," he replied. "You though... you've become a hero. Everyone is-"

"SAVE IT!" she yelled at him. "Just leave me alone!"

"Danielle, wait!" he yelled but she was already running off. He almost made after her, but something held him back. Probably the same thing that held him back every time he tried to go home and stop just short of knocking at the door or going to visit her at school. Raising a hand up to his scars, he fisted up his hair and nearly screamed. This was so maddening!

"When is it going to stop?" he whispered softly. "When am I going to stop hurting?"

"Once you let yourself start to heal of course."

Daniel looked up suddenly and saw a strange creature floating in front of him. It looked like some kind of ghost and he growled defensively, immediately going ghost and powering up an ecto blast in each hand.

"You don't have to do that," it said calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I come bringing comfort."

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" the young halfa demanded.

"I know it hurts, what your mother did to you and your father," the thing said simply. "What she did was positively criminal, but her sins are so small compared to the ones who would allow it to happen, and not even try to bring any kind of retribution to her for killing your father."

"How... how do you know about that?" Daniel asked. Usually it would have been a pointless question. Everyone knew about what had happened. It had been all over the news for months afterwards, but something told Daniel that was not how this thing had come across the information.

"I've been watching you for a while now. I am an Observant, a god in a way. I watch over life, as it develops and grows. There are others like me, others who banished me from trying to prevent things like this. They would let you suffer, even as they save others, simply because they can see no profit in helping you."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are other worlds, some like this one, some vastly different," the Observant explained. "In other worlds, you are happy, much happier than you are now."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he was angry or curious.

"I came to offer you something," the Observant explained. "I have a wish to keep tragedies like this from happening, to keep life simple and good. There is another boy like you though, that would keep this from happening. Ironically enough, he ended up like you, alone, his family ripped from him, but he was saved from his fate."

"Why?"

"Most Observants claim they do not like to interfere in the affairs of others, but this young man grew up in pain, killing so many that they decided, against their own rules mind you, to stop it. They saved his family, rewarded him, effectively for slaughtering others. However, they have left you to suffer, seeing no reason to save you from your pain, probably just because you have done nothing to disturb the order of things."

"Why in the world should I care about that?" he stated, though he did feel a small twinge of anger from the information.

"I've seen what awaits you, my son," the Observer said. "You will be alone forever, never knowing peace unless you fight against what hurts you, like you fought your mother. I have so much I can show you, and you can take your revenge on all those who have wronged and abandoned you."

"I don't care about revenge anymore," Daniel said. "I just want to be left alone."

"You won't feel that way for long, I can assure you of that."

Daniel snorted and looked at him.

"Look, if there's a me out there that's happy with Dad and Mom and Sis and he hasn't lost everything, than good for him. I'm not going to do what happened to me just to try to balance out the universe or whatever. I dare you to tell me give me one solid argument why I should do anything you want me to."

"I can give you more than an argument," the Observer stated. "A name, one that will let you see the light of how cruel your world is. Danny Fenton."

End of Chapter Fifteen

Ah, the ending of this little flashback. Even as sad as it was to write this up, I am still incredibly proud of it. It really had a lot of emotion to it.

I hope you all liked the little bit of insight to Wraith's past. To me, it was very important to show how he became what he did, especially since now he is going to be playing a very large part of the story. His motivation behind everything he does, and not to spoil anything, is going to greatly affect his interactions with the other characters in the chapters to come.

In any case, please review. I can't express how much I appreciate them and everyone who sends them. I highly value the opinions of the ones who read this story and all my others, and hearing from you is literally the high point of my day.


	16. Ruined Plans

Well, with the end of Painful Past, it's time to get back to the plot. I felt it was taking up a bit too much time, so I'm glad to get back to the story. Still, I enjoyed writing it, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it too. In the end, that's all that matters for a story.

I really am sorry this took so long to come out. It's been very hectic and honestly, I got a little distracted. I would have posted a little sooner, but I also decided I needed to go back and fix up the earlier chapters. Someone pointed out to me that the Observers are actually called the Observants (blame a website that had the information listed incorrectly) so I wanted to change that along with the grammar that has been not horrible, but not great either. That and Dani's name is actually spelled the canon way now. I'm honestly surprised it's spelled that way, considering Danielle is my real name and I've always spelled the shorter version with two N's. Well, go figure. Anyway, it's all been corrected and now the story is just a little bit closer to the canon version. Yay!

In any case, I don't own Danny Phantom, character, show, concept, art, or any other kind of rights to it. I do however own my own OC's, and the concept of this story. I'm proud of what I've produced, so hey, I'm happy. What isn't mine however, belongs to Butch Hartman, so good for him.

Chapter Sixteen: Ruined Plans

Opal sighed and rubbed at her eyes tiredly as she yet again scanned over the pages of the book the Banished One had been trapped in. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach there was more to what the Observant was planning, if only she could find it. But the book was disjointed and awkward. Finding anything was hard, and she had not properly rested since this whole ordeal had started.

"Have you found anything interesting yet?"

Opal froze and looked up from where she was sitting at the desk. Her mouth went dry and she quickly stood up, grabbing her necklace.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded of the Observant. Even though she had never seen him before, something in her mind was screaming at her that this was the Banished One. He had a menacing aura about him and she felt a tremor of fear run through her.

"Calm yourself girl," he said as he floated closer to her, raising his hand. "I don't plan to harm you."

She pushed away her chair and took several steps back, glaring at him.

"What is your intentions with the Library?" she asked. "What have you done with my uncle?"

"You know human, he is anything but your uncle," he said. "And you are not the proper caretaker for this Library."

"Do not lay your hands on me!" she yelled, hitting his clawed fingertips away before he could touch her.

"It was foolish for them to leave you alone," he said menacingly. "You know as well as I do, you have no chance against me."

She frowned and yanked her necklace off, gripping her sword in both her hands and setting herself determinedly.

"I will not yield to the likes of you," she hissed.

The Observant looked her over for a moment and chuckled.

"I don't really need you to," he replied.

_#---------#_

Danny gasped as he stood, his body not at all happy with the rough treatment he'd been through, but he couldn't say it was the worst beating he'd ever suffered. He saw the others standing over Wraith and Angela, both knocked out cold. Despite the situation, he grinned a little to himself. Looks like they'd won after all.

His legs were a little wobbly and Dani had to help him so he could keep himself steady, but he knew he would recover pretty quickly. Honestly, it was getting less and less enduring to get over the effects of his Ghostly Wail.

"Did you get the Observant?" he asked Clockwork, but the ghost only shook his head.

"I don't think he has been here for a while honestly. I should have realized, even with a defense, he wouldn't have risked capture when there was so much to lose," the Time Master replied. "We'll find him though. He's lost his book, his army proved to be worth very little, and now we have his pawn. He's getting backed into a corner."

Danny frowned.

"He still has Sam and Tucker. We need to find them," he said insistently. He withdrew his arm from his cousin, steadying himself on his own and his expression was set determinedly.

"We will," Clockwork assured him. "Dan, get Wraith. I have a feeling he's going to be the key to finding the Banished One."

"And what will be done with Angela?" Samantha asked as Dan grabbed the unconscious boy and slung him over his shoulder.

"We're bringing her too," Danny said immediately. "As much trouble as she's caused, there's no way we should leave her on her own here, even if the Observant is gone. There's nothing to say that he can't come back and influence her into stabbing us in the back again."

No one missed the bitter tone in his voice and they all exchanged looks. It's not like they didn't feel any different though.

"Come on, we should look for Sam and Tucker," Dani said.

"Any ideas where they might be?" Dan asked and snatched the soldier up by her collar.

"We checked the tower, and you guys were in the other one, they obviously aren't in the main hall, so that only leaves down below like Opal told us the book said," Dani said and pointed to the other side of the hall to a large door. "Those are probably the stairs."

They made their way over, ignoring the other ghosts strewn all over the floor and Samantha pushed the door open. Danny immediately rushed past her and down the stairs, obviously eager to see if his friends were there.

"Sam? Tucker?" he called as he reached a long hallway. He saw several rows of cells and ran down the hall, trying to find the one that encased the two.

"Danny?" he heard Tucker's voice ask. "Danny! Down here! We're at the end!"

"Guys, I'm coming!" he called back and screeched to a stop when he saw Tucker behind the bars, and Sam tiredly rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Eh... what's going on? Danny?" she asked, her expression quickly going from exhaustion to happiness. She got up and ran over next to Tucker in front of the bars and smiled brightly. "I knew you'd get here. What's going on? Did we miss anything?"

"We beat Angela," Danny quickly informed them. "But the Observant got away, and... there's someone else that he was trying to use against us too. We have a lot of catching up, but we need to get you out of here first."

"Well, Angela was the one who locked us up in here," Tucker said. "She probably still has the keys."

"I'll look," Dani said and ruffled through the mercenary's pockets, pulling out a ring of keys. "Aha! Got 'em!"

She ran up to the door and checked them, trying to match up which one would fit and unlock their cell. After a few tries, the door gave a loud click and swung open.

"FREE!" Tucker cried and ran out, pumping his fists. "Finally free!"

"Tucker it was what, a few hours, tops?" Dani commented incredulously before Sam ran past her and tackled Danny, hugging him hard.

"I was so worried," she whispered as she buried her face into his chest.

"Hey, it's okay," he said softly as he smiled and held her as well. "I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

"I wasn't talking about that," she said as she withdrew slightly and looked up at him. "I mean I was worried about you. Look at you, you're a total mess. What happened anyway?"

"And... who is that?" Tucker asked as he pointed to Wraith.

"That's... me," Danny replied, sighing heavily. "He's from another world... and something really bad happened to him. He thinks it's my fault for some reason."

"Bad?" Sam asked, but her boyfriend only looked away.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," he said and disentangled herself from him. "We need to focus on other things."

"Right, like what we're going to do about the Observant, or where he even is," Dan muttered and looked to Clockwork. "Any ideas?"

"I doubt he's anywhere in his castle," Samantha said. "His pawns are all beaten, and I doubt very much he has any attachment to this world besides what he can gain from it. I imagine he's already left by now."

"So he's escaped, just like the Council said he would," Clockwork murmured. "I'll continue to search for him after we have some information from his underlings. Besides, I don't think Wraith is a prize he'd be so willing to get rid of easily. He's obviously put a lot of effort into this one."

"He looks so... tired," Samantha said as she looked at the scarred boy. "Like... he's older than what he should be."

"Yes," Clockwork said. "He isn't one of the ones that has had an easy life. But I think the Observant twisted him against his will. He had been recovering from what he had done."

Danny looked at the ground and swallowed. Great, all he needed was another evil version of himself running around, and on top of it blaming his life on Danny. He sighed, trying not to feel selfish about the situation, but it was a little hard. He didn't see how he could have anything to do with what went wrong with Wraith's life, but at the same time, he did feel a little bad for him. Danny certainly understood the fear that he'd had over his ow parents' reaction. Even when they'd found out, he'd been more than a little shocked at their level of acceptance.

"Danny?" Sam asked, noticing his sullen look. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," he said and smiled encouragingly at her. "I'm fine. Just still a little tired."

If she was about to say anything in response, it was interrupted by a small groan. Everyone looked over and saw Angela slowly waking up, still in Dan's grip. There seemed to be a moment where she was surprised at her situation, but it vanished quickly with anger.

"God dammit," she muttered under her breath. She didn't try to get away, no doubt still just as sore and beaten down as Danny felt, probably worse. Her knowledge that she'd been defeated and was horrible outnumbered didn't stop her from glaring at the group though, or really, at Danny. It was if she was blaming him for not giving up and dying for her convenience.

"Your timing couldn't have been better," Clockwork said as he approached her. "We were just talking about your master. Seems he's disappeared from the castle. Where is he?"

"He's not my master," she hissed out then snorted. "You must be Clockwork. He told me who were, that you were pretty powerful. Why don't you go out and find him yourself?"

"Because I have you to tell me where he is. He's been using you. I want to know what his plans are," he replied.

She scoffed.

"The only thing he told me was what my orders were," she replied. "I was suppose to kill Danny, and anyone else who stood against him. Anything else he had in mind was on a need to know basis, and apparently, I didn't need to fucking know."

"He's bribed you into service. You don't need to have any loyalty to him," Samantha said.

"No, he enslaved me," Angela corrected bitterly. "But even if I did know, you think for a second I'd tell you people? Fucking hell, that asshole has the power to wipe away people's lives at the drop of a hat, and Chicago is his next target if I don't do what he says. It's bad enough that I lost, there is no way I'm going to give him the impression I'm about to betray him. It's not out of loyalty. It's fear, and I'm not too stupid to try and deny it."

"He only has that kind of power with the Quill at his disposal, along with the book to your world," Clockwork explained. "We have the book now. He can't do anything more to this reality. If you help us, we can stop him."

"No," she said and shook her head. "Like I said before, I don't know anything. In fact, hearing he's not even here is pretty surprising, though the kind of guy he is, it really shouldn't be. Just fucking like a person like that to bail, just in case things didn't go his way. Not that I can blame him, I guess."

"You're sure? We can help you, you know."

"Look, if I tell you anything and he comes back, I'm screwed, you understand that? You guys go out and fight the good fight and you win, great. But if he bests you guys, and he knows that I betrayed him, he'll do his best to punish me, by taking out my city. And if he wins, he'll get that book back. I can guarantee he'll do it just to teach me a lesson. He's vindictive like that, but I'm sure you already know it better than I do. What's the worst you guys can do to me in comparison? Nothing, that's what. If you were the type that would kill a whole bunch of people to get to me, I highly doubt you would really care about what happens to the multiverse of whatever the hell this is all about."

"The creepy Observant is the type to," Dani said.

"Yeah, case in point," the ghost mercenary replied. "I don't really know what exactly he's planning, but five minute alone with him and even I could tell he really doesn't care about this world or any other. He has a final goal, a point to prove, probably to the other Observants from the way he talks so bitterly about them. Aside from that though, I have no clue where he is or what he's up to."

Clockwork looked at her for a second before frowning and shaking his head.

"We're not getting anywhere this way," he said after a moment. "I think you are telling the truth, that you don't really have any clue where he is, but that doesn't mean I can let you go either. If you refuse to help us, for whatever reason you have, obviously you can't be left to your own devices here, waiting for him to return. You'll be coming with us."

"Hey! What? No fucking way! I'm not-"

"In a position where you can argue," Clockwork finished her argument for her. He placed his the head of his staff under her chin and forced her to look up at him. "You've lost Angela. And it's only a matter of time before the Banished One falls as well. In the meantime, let's do our best to keep you two children out of trouble."

"I'm not a child," she hissed but he only chuckled.

"In comparison to me, no you're right. You're very much less than that," he replied coldly before turning to the others. "We're going back to the Library. We still have the book to this world. It may tell us where the Observant went. If not, we still have Wraith. Something tells me he has a little more foresight into this plan than Angela does."

With a wave of his staff, a swirling portal opened, letting everyone step through. Angela was still struggling a little in Dan's grasp, but it was barely an effort for him to keep a hold of her. They were shocked however when they saw the Library wasn't how they left it. Books were scattered everywhere and Opal's desk had been toppled over, various quills laid haphazardly on the floor, and a bottle or two of ink had been smashed and were seeping out over the tiled floor.

In the middle of it all, Opal stood, looking just as much a wreck as the rest of the room. Her clothes were slightly torn and part of her bun had come loose, several locks of hair hanging over her face or sticking out in odd directions. A few burns decorated her skin and she looked wobbly at best.

"Opal, what happened here?" Clockwork immediately asked as he came up to her. She looked up, seeming startled by him before she withdrew from his grasp and shook her head.

"Uncle," she gasped softly. "Now is not the time. The Banished One... he came... attacked me." She smiled softly at him despite her condition. "It is all fine though. He is over there."

She pointed over to the crumpled form of the Observant. He wasn't moving and several book were lying either on or around him. Clockwork gazed at him incredulously.

"You stopped him? By yourself?" he asked her before she bit her lip and sighed.

"I believe he was searching for something," she explained. "He must have believed he had me knocked unconscious, because he had begun to look through the books at one point, completely ignoring me. I was able to come up behind him and... Oh Uncle, I was barely able to stop him, and I do not believe he'll stay in this state for long. Should we not take him to the Council, now that we finally have him?"

"Wow, this place is a mess," Tucker commented. "I wonder what he was looking for."

"Guess it hardly matters now," Sam said with a grin. "Way to show that creep who's boss, Opal."

The librarian looked over at the group for a second before smiling softly.

"Your words are too kind," she said softly. "I was simply doing my duty to the Library. I am happy though, to see that everyone has survived this. You must tell me the tale once you've returned."

She looked over at Dan, carrying Wraith and Angela and frowned. It was obvious she seemed a little apprehensive about having these people in her Library. Ignoring the glare that Angela gave her, she turned back to her uncle as he inspected the Observant. He was rustling through the ghost's clothes but after a minute he frowned and pulled away.

"It's not here," he muttered.

"What's not?" Dani asked curiously.

"The Quill," Clockwork answered. "He doesn't have it, or the medallion. Neither of them are on him."

"You think maybe he merged it inside himself?" Danny guessed. "Like what happened to me while I was in the future?"

Clockwork remained silent, a thoughtful look on his face. He seemed uncertain and Opal laid a hand on his shoulder encouragingly.

"Uncle, I am sure everything is fine. He is in your custody now," she reassured him. "No doubt the Quill is still in Angela's world. We will recover it in due time. For now, this threat must be handled. It would be prudent to leave before he awakens, would it not? If he were to escape..."

"You have a point," Clockwork replied. "The Council can deal with him, and we'll fine the objects he stole."

"What about these two?" Dan asked as he indicated to his two captors.

"Hmm," the Time Master mused. "If we take them to the Council, they're going to end up severally punished, probably just as badly as the Banished One. Considering that they were being used, it seems harsh, on the other hand, they followed him willingly."

"Would it not be best to set them free?" Opal asked, looking concerned. "Once in their own world, they would not be able to do anymore harm. If they were just under the Banished One's influence, like you have stated, they are little more than victims in this, are they not?"

"Don't do me any favors, bitch," Angela muttered. "We both know Wraith and I are fucked."

Clockwork, however, shook his head.

"No," he said. "We'll send them back to their own worlds. Bad decisions may have been made, but they _were_ manipulated. We have to keep that in mind. Besides, you stated yourself Angela, you knew that if we won, your world, and your city, would be fine. What more motivation do you have to stand against us?"

"You're going to let her go, just like that?" Danny asked.

"What would you rather me do?" he asked.

Sam clasped a hand on her boyfriend's arm, trying to calm him down.

"Hey, it's okay Danny. Tucker and I are just fine, and she did help us before," she stated. "Probably best just to take this creep in and go home. After all, it's not like anything really bad happened to us."

"Not because she had her way, that's for sure," Danny muttered but then nodded. "I guess you have a point. And you were the ones that were kidnapped. Tucker?"

"Man, like that's the last time a ghost is going to grab me," the teenage techno geek said with a shrug. "I'm just ready to go home and make sure my poor cell phone is okay."

"So," Samantha said as she crossed her arms daintily over her chest and leaned slightly against a bookcase, "now that we have the Observant in our grasp, what do we do now?"

"We take him to the Council," Clockwork supplied. "There will be a short trial, though I doubt it will last long. His crimes and guilt are obvious. Afterwards we must locate the Quill and the time medallion. The second has to be on his person somehow, otherwise my vision of the future wouldn't be blocked. No doubt he has it hidden somehow, but the Council will strip him of his powers again, and he won't be able to hide it from me for long. Once that's done, I'll know where the Quill is and I'll be able to retrieve it from wherever he hid it."

"And then?" Dan pressed and the Time Master chuckled softly.

"And then you'll be free," he assured the other ghost. "You complain a lot for somone who really had to do so little."

Dan only snorted and looked down to Angela and Wraith.

"And them?"

"I will take the liberty of sending them back," Opal volunteered. "After everything you have all done for my sake, it is the least that I can do in return."

"What about us?" Dani asked Clockwork.

"I need you all to give a fast account of what happened," he replied. "The Council won't be happy with my directly disobeying their orders, so I'll need them to understand there wasn't much choice."

"Oh sure, no problem," she said with a nod. "That's cool with me. What about you, Danny?"

"It's fine with me," he said. "I'd like to see this through to the end and know it's resolved anyway."

Dan released the merc and let her stand on her own two feet. Angela looked a little surly, but seemed at least pleased the whole mess was over with. The boy was quickly shoved in her arms and Opal turned towards the direction of the vaults.

"Please, be sure to follow me. It is not far," she said a little coldly.

Still in sight of the others, Opal grabbed the book to Angela's world from off the floor and it only took a few minutes for her to locate another off the shelves. She opened the large door to one of the vaults, the sound almost covering up the small swish of wind that was made by a portal already being formed. Angela guessed it was Clockwork and the others leaving and breathed a sigh of relief.

She was still a little sore about losing, but at the same time, was really kind of glad. She was free and so was Chicago. Granted, Danny and the others hated her, but what the hell did that matter? It's not like she would ever see any of them again. She couldn't suppress the small grin that was spreading over her lips. It was unbelievably lucky for her.

"You seem pleased," Opal commented as she looked at the woman. "Your plight is over."

"Well, not exactly," she said. "But close enough. I guess it was all going to work out one way or another. Either way, Chicago is safe, so I guess I can only be happy with how it all worked out."

"I'm glad you're happy," Opal said coldly, her eyes flashing for a moment as she frowned. "Because now, I'm going to make sure Chicago burns to the ground!"

Angela stared at the other woman shocked at the change in her voice, both the tone and how she was speaking. There was no way...

"I specifically gave you orders to kill that brat!" Opal screamed in her face. "And what do you do? You deliver Wraith to me in this condition and Danny Phantom is still alive! Tell me one order you have fulfilled, Angela! Give me one reason to spare your city!"

"Wha... Wait a second, you're..." Angela stuttered, nearly dropping Wraith. "What's going on?"

Opal seethed at her for a moment before taking a small step back and smirking softly.

"Overshadowing living creatures is the most basic of a ghost's abilities, as I'm sure you're well aware of, my little general. Possessing Opal, mere child's play," the 'librarian' said with a scoff. "And creating clones is nothing for a ghost of my caliber. What those fools captured is nothing more than a shadow, and they'll see soon enough what a mistake it was that they made."

She snorted.

"It was merely fast thinking on my part when a portal opened and I was able to create a clone of myself so quickly and without any notice. If I had hesitated by mere seconds, your failure would have cost me everything. I was simply suppose to posses Opal and lead Clockwork to a red herring of myself for him to go to the Council to bring to justice. Danny Phantom and his friends should have been dead, leaving me only with Clockwork to handle before I could conduct the rest of my plan.

"As it is you, a soldier, have failed at EVERY turn to slay a simple little boy. I have so much more to worry about now, and my tool Wraith has been hurt! How do you explain this utter failure?"  
Angela searched for something, anything, to say in her defense but the words wouldn't come. The Observant was livid with her, an anger that she had not seen him express so violently before raging in him. His cool facade had vanished completely and the mercenary was honestly afraid of what he would do.

'Opal' sighed and shook her head.

"As it is, the plan is still on track, details cast aside or not," she muttered. "Those simpletons will bring the supposed Banished One before the Council, who will be livid once they see their prisoner is nothing more than an illusion. Clockwork will be punished, no doubt imprisoned both for his failure and his disobedience. The same fate will fall on the others, leaving me free to do as I please here. Of course, if the plan had followed it's correct course, suspicion wouldn't have fallen on Opal. As it is however, that is looking less and less likely. We won't have as much time as I had hoped. That just means I'll have to move faster then."

She shot Angela a harsh look.

"I want my soldiers here. Immediately," she hissed. "Not just the ones at the castle. All of them. In every city on that globe. I do not have time to waste."

"But, I thought once they left that world, they wouldn't be under your control anymore, since they would be in separate books then," Angela said slowly.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" she asked. "Once I control them through a book, they are mine, no matter how many worlds they travel to. And even if that wasn't true, they would barely register in the book that controls this part of the Ghost Zone. There is only one Library, much like there is only one tower that Clockwork resides in, and my little sheep are too insignificant to even count compared to who gets recorded in those pages. They are practically the equivalent of commas in that history book. Now, I would suggest you follow the order you've been given. I want my army gathered. Take Wraith with you, he'll set off the signal to alert the others. No doubt he is going to be displeased when he wakes up, but I'll deal with him later."

Angela slowly nodded, not daring to ask about her city. It looked like, despite the angry outburst, the Observant still saw her as valuable. She wasn't going to do anything to risk otherwise.

"Angela," the Observant said, as if reading her thoughts. "You've already failed me twice. Make it a third, and the hell that has fallen to that planet will seem like the most divine mercy compared to what I will do to the those little slum dwellers."

"I understand," the mercenary replied, her throat tight as a portal was opened for her.

End of Chapter Sixteen

Feels good to finally have this finished. And here marks the first chapter of the next arc of the story. I know. It has arcs? Well, unofficially and in my mind. I try to keep things organized. But yes, this does mark the next major part of the story. Suffice to say, things are going to be getting radically different pretty soon.

Well, I don't have much to say except that I would love it if you all reviewed. Let me know what you think about this chapter and it's contents, and it will be greatly appreciated.


	17. No Good Deed

Well, here it is, chapter 17 of Time Will be the Judge. This chapter actually took a bit more out of me than I thought it would. I kept writing it, and it kept fighting back against me to get it out. I felt I had made everyone wait way too long for it though, so I kept at it. Despite everything, I feel pretty accomplished.

I don't have much else to say, so I'll just get the disclaimer out of the way and you can get to the chapter. I don't own Danny Phantom. As always, this is only written for enjoyment purposes and not monetary gain. I am not making any profit off of this and only hope to entertain. Thank you.

Chapter Seventeen: No Good Deed...

The first thing that registered in Danny's mind was the pain radiating from his scalp. He winced hard and moved his hand to touch it, only to realize his arm could only reach half-way before it was tugged to a stop. His eyes opened, his vision blurry, as if the world had gone out of focus on him. He groaned and squeezed them shut as the pain in his head flared to life everywhere else on his body, making him almost wish he was still unconscious.

He felt prickly and weird, as if thousands of wide needles had been shoved into his skin. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been so sore from his fight with Wraith.

His eyes flashed open at that thought. The small action alone caused him to want to cry out from the fresh wave of anguish that hit him, but he bit his lip determinedly and held it back. He remembered now. They'd gotten to the Council. It had all been going fine and all of a sudden...

Danny winced as his head gave a small throb. It was hard to think right now. His body was wracked with pain, and remembering what had happened was hard. Especially since... he hadn't even really been sure of what _had_ happened, even as it had been going on right in front of him. The whole thing had gone so fast and had been so confusing. He remembered guards surrounding them and yelling. Some of the voices had sounded worried, but most were outraged. But why?

He swallowed. The Observant. He remembered now. It hadn't been really there. An illusion? Or a copy? Danny wasn't sure. Whatever it had been, it had fooled Clockwork, though he couldn't remember the old ghost's reaction to it. That's when everything had started to blur. Danny thought he had fought back, but he couldn't have lasted long. His fight with Wraith had just happened, and along with getting knocked around for a while, he'd used his Ghostly Wail. It had a habit of taking a bit out of a guy. He should had known he wouldn't have been able to do much against so many. If he could recall correctly, there had been quite a lot of guards.

But what about the others? Shouldn't they have been able to handle things? From what he had seen when Samantha and his older self had reunited with them right before they had gotten to the Library, they had been fine. Had it not been enough? Had they been beaten too, or had Danny been the only one? But if they'd been able to handle the situation, why was he alone?

He thought he must have gotten hit in the head, though he figured that more from the throb in his skull, which was easily the worst pain in his body right now, than any actual memory of what had gone on right after they'd realized they'd been tricked.

He raised his head and looked around, wondering where he was. It was fairly dark, but he could make out the room from the little bit of light that leaked in. He was sure it would be easier if his vision would just clear, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen any time soon. It was like he was wearing glasses. Making anything out was difficult, and the more he tried, the more it would hurt and the harder it would be the next time around.

Still, he could make out enough to tell him that he was alone and that the room was on the small side. Probably about the size of a large walk-in closet.

The perfect size for a cell.

He groaned and closed his eyes. It helped, but only a little. It was something though, and he was welcome for anything at the moment. Besides, if the pain started to fade away, even just a little, he would be able to think things out more clearly.

So, he just tried to focus on what he could feel. Since the room was so dark anyway, trying to see would be pointless, but that didn't stop any of his other senses. The surface below him was hard, like he was sitting on concrete and the wall he had been propped against wasn't any better. He could feel the weight on his wrists, thick and metallic. He tried raising his hands experimentally and heard the faint clinking of chains. His guess was only reconfirmed when his wrists started to get held back after a few inches. He tugged, but it didn't do him any good.

They didn't feel cold though. It was actually a little warm and fuzzy feeling. He scowled. The feeling of ecto energy was more than familiar to him. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape if he were to transform. If he even could transform. Something told him that was pretty unlikely right now, even if the energy was just meant to hold him, though he had a feeling it was more to suppress his powers than anything else. He felt so tired, but maybe that was just from getting beaten around so many times?

He groaned again. He was thinking in circles. It was hard to keep his thoughts on track. They kept getting scrambled around in his head and it hurt too much to try so hard.

He felt so tired, even though he had just woken up. But, he hadn't really been asleep. He wondered how long he had been out of it.

"Oh man," he groaned softly as he realized something. Where was Sam? Was she captured too, out of one cell just to get shoved into another? He felt a throb of guilt. He should have just taken her home immediately. He snorted. "Great going, Fenton. Just let your girlfriend get kidnapped twice in one day. Yeah, that shows devotion all right. Geez."

He tried to think of a way to escape, knowing he had to do something. He had to see if the other's were here... wherever here might be.

He tugged at the chains again, a little bit more angrily this time. They only clanked and hissed with the ecto energy in response, unwilling to let go of their prisoner. He could feel his rage building up inside of his stomach, boiling in the pit of his stomach and threatening to spill over as he got more and more mad at this whole situation.

"Where am I?" he yelled. "Where are my friends? Somebody had better answer me!"

A door opened suddenly, nearly blinding Danny with the quick change of the amount of light in the room. He squinted and blinked several times, steadily getting use to it before he looked up and saw who had opened the door.

"You might as well settle down in here," Walker informed him, his bulk framing the doorway that he stood in. "You're bound to be in here for a good long time, you hear?"

"What the... How did I end up in your prison?" Danny asked, feeling a bit clueless and lost in this whole situation. "What's going on here?"

"You went against the Council, boy," the ghost warden replied with a little drawl. "What did you think was going to happen? Things a real fine mess now with the Banished One up and about. And all you did was end up helping him out with taking that little red herring to the Observants."

"Wait," the young half said as his mind slowly put two and two together. He'd helped try and capture the Banished One, and had ended up in jail? "You mean, you work for the Council?"

How had he missed that little piece of info?

"What? You thought I just went around throwing people in prison cause I enjoyed it?"

"Uh... yeah," he replied honestly.

"Well, you would be right on that point," Walker said and scratched his chin.

Danny shook his head. He should have figured. It was kind of obvious now that he thought about it. The Council did see to it that uncontrollable ghost got locked away, and Walker's prison was the only one that Danny knew about in the Ghost Zone. Besides, it's not like Walker had just gone around and randomly started ordering ghost to work for him as guards. He was intimidating, but not by THAT much... Well, maybe he was, but the other explanation seemed to make a lot more sense to the teenager.

"Look," he said, feeling a little desperate. "I know I kinda say this every time we bump into each other, but I didn't do anything. I was just trying to help out. I mean, if you know about the Banished One, you know he's seriously bad news. Something had to be done."

"You mean like give him access to the Library of the Worlds so he could lock himself in there, cozy as a little bug?" Walker asked dryly.

"He what?" the boy asked, raising an eyebrow. "He's in the Library?"

"Just a tad bit slow, aren't you?" he asked and shook his head. "Yeah, he's in the Library. Has been for over a day now. You've been out of it longer than you might have thought. I think getting in there was probably his goal all along, thought I'm not entirely sure why. Right after your little group caused all that trouble in the Council's chambers, they sent some ghosts to try and see what was going on. The Banished One has erected some kind of shield though. Not a single one of 'em can get in. Worrying the Council sick. They hate not knowing what's going on."

"But it's only one ghost, even if it is an Observant," Danny said. "Can't the Council just break through?"

Walker frowned and shook his head.

"Course they can, but use your head, boy," he answered. "We're talking about a fair amount of power here. Breaking down a shield with that much power behind it takes some time. He's holed up in there on borrowed time, but I'm sure he already knows that. I'm sure he isn't planning on being in there forever. He just wants something in that Library. Besides..."

The ghost sighed suddenly, seeming suddenly a bit more surely than usual. It didn't take Danny long to figure out what he was thinking.

"If he's in the Library, and no one can get in... Nothing can stop him from destroying those books, those worlds," he said softly. "All those people... everything... It'll just be gone."

"Yes. So we need to tread carefully," he said. "Course, he'll probably do it anyway, so we have to try to get to him before he does too much damage. But still, this is why you were informed to keep your nose out of it."

"Hey," Danny objected suddenly. "How was I suppose to know? Not even Clockwork realized. Besides, what if we had just sat around and done nothing? He would have gone after the Library already. Heck, he had. Something needed to be done about it. And something still does! Let me go! I can fix this."

"You aint going nowhere for a good long while," Walker replied with a snort. "Heck, you should feel lucky. The Council only wants me to hold you until the little mess you caused is fixed. If it were up to me, you'd never leave this cell. Ever."

Danny glared up at the warden, He hated how stubborn this guy was. Didn't he see keeping him locked up like this wasn't going to accomplish anything?

"What about the others?" he asked. "Are they here too?"

"They sure are, and are staying just as long, I can assure you."

"I'm surprised you can even hold them, especially Clockwork," Danny muttered. "We are going to get out of here."

"I doubt it," he answered. "The Observants are nothing if not prepared. You don't think they have ways to keep ghosts like Clockwork contained? He works for them. They know everything about him. And I've taken steps to ensure you are your other human friends can't just walk through this place either. Don't think you're getting away to just make more trouble. You want my advice? Just sit tight and pray this mess gets cleaned up quickly."

Danny watched the ghost warden turn his back to him and shut the door, encasing the room in near pitch black darkness again, the only light coming from the small gaps between the door and the framework. He cursed a little under his breath and leaned his head back against the stone wall.

Great. Now what? He couldn't believe he'd been out of it or a whole day. He must have been hit in the back of the head pretty hard. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He needed to figure out a way to get out of here.

He would have felt more reassured if he was with the others, but as odd as it was, he was relieved they were only in Walker's jail. The guy may not have been the nicest person in the world but he did have honor, in his own weird way. If he said the others were safe and weren't going to be hurt, then Danny believed him. He still wasn't at all happy about it, but he knew it was better than other alternatives he could think of at the moment. Angela had been out for their blood. At least here they could sit tight until he thought of a way to get them out.

He wondered where the mercenary even was. Something told him that she was with the Observant, probably Wraith too. He scowled. It seemed like all his hard work had been for nothing. He was going to fix it though. He had to.

He sighed and hoped Opal was okay. Had that even been her that they had talked to, or just another one of the Observant's tricks? But if that hadn't been her, where was she? Had she been killed? She wasn't a ghost like Clockwork or the other servants of the Council. She was more vulnerable than the others. A lot more.

Hoping more than everything she was still okay, he pulled at the chains again. The stayed firm and he frowned. He wasn't going anywhere until he could get out of these things. Even if a guard came in, he wouldn't be able to do anything as a human kid. He really, really needed his ghost powers.

"Come on Fenton, think," he muttered to himself. Even locked up, even hurt and sore, there was no way in the world he was going to give up.

#---------#

"Are you planning to sulk forever?"

Clockwork rolled his eyes. Even as a immortal being, his patience was not endless, and Dan had a horrible way of being able to get under his skin at all the wrong times. Even under the best of circumstances, that attitude of his could be cumbersome and as it was he would hardly call these circumstances good, much less the best he'd ever had.

He was trapped. He'd never been trapped before. He decided fairly shortly after getting put in this lousy glass tube he didn't care for it much. His staff was gone, and even if it wasn't, the device attached to the top blocked all of his powers. He'd seen this thing hold so many ghosts, how it infuriated them to be in such a thing, powerless. The Time Master had to admit, he was inclined to agree that it was rather aggravating.

"Would you mind not talking at the moment?" he asked, his tone sharp. He was in no way in the mood to play these word games with the destructive ghost. He just wanted silence. Just to hang there in the hallway, ignoring the cell below him that encased Dan Phantom.

"Actually, I would!" Dan shouted up at him. He gripped the cell bars and looked up at the ghost just sitting in his prison, not even seeming to mind any of it. "I want out of here and you're being a useless fucking lump! Do something!"

"One would think you would be use to incarceration," he stated flatly.

Dani sighed, wishing she had earplugs right now. Stuck in the cell opposite of Dan with her arms and legs chained up, she was glad she knew at least these two were okay, but she'd gotten tired of hearing Dan's complaining a while ago. Clockwork wasn't being much help either. He was acting so stoic and cold, as if he didn't even care that they were locked up in the first place.

'Wonder if the others are okay,' she thought to herself before she looked up at a sudden howl. Dan was holding one of his hands, smoking a little as he curse loudly. Looks like he'd tried to blast his way through... again.

"You didn't think the barrier compressing your powers had suddenly left, had you?" Clockwork asked, his voice having traces of a snide tone in it.

"Screw you," Dan snapped up at him. "I am NOT staying in here. How dare that stupid warden even think he could keep me here? I'll tear him apart! And I'm only going to be able to that once I escape! You could try doing something too, instead of just sitting there!"

"And what do you expect me to do exactly?" he replied curiously. "My powers are just as suppressed as your's are. I can't bend time, and even if I could, this glass is phase proof. There's nothing to be done."

"I never figured you would haven just given up so easily," Dan muttered. "Where's your pride? I thought you wanted to do something about this."

"I... I was wrong," Clockwork admitted, sounding as if he was forcing himself to carry on this conversation. "I should have knows that wasn't really Opal. Something wasn't right. I should have been able to tell, should have protected her better."

Dan honestly thought that if the girl couldn't take care of herself, she had no right to be tangling with ghosts and had no one to blame but herself. It would only piss Clockwork off if he said that though, and he knew it. He was way too close to that human girl in Dan's opinion. He never would have thought he'd see the guy act so... pathetic.

He knew it wasn't just about Opal though. The Time Master was shaken, Dan could tell. Clockwork had made a mistake, and a bad one at that. It had landed them all here, and might have even doomed existence as they knew it. For anyone that would have been bad enough, but Clock had been all knowing before this, literally perfect. He didn't make mistakes period, and then this? He couldn't possibly be taking it well.

It still pissed him off though that instead of trying to do anything, the ghost had elected just to let it all happen and mope. Not because Dan actually cared about any of this, he just wanted out. He really didn't like being trapped. He consoled himself that when he did get free, Walker was going to wish he had never even heard of Phantom. The fact that he couldn't die only meant the fun would last longer too.

But none of that was going to happen if he didn't get out. And to get out, he needed help, as much as he loathed to admit it. He remembered well from when he had just been Danny how hard it was to actually get out of this place, and just like in the Thermos, all of his powers were useless to free himself.

He looked to the girl in the cell opposite of him. She looked fairly useless really, and she couldn't even transform at the moment. Still, it looked as if she was just as trapped as he was. She'd been fairly stubborn trying to go ghost, going at it for hours before just seeming to decide it was pointless, or maybe she'd just gotten tired.

But at least she was trying.

Just what was she anyway? In everything else that had been going on, he had never really thought to ask. Obviously she was something to Danny, and probably Vlad too, but Dan had no idea what.

"I don't suppose you've come up with any ideas?" he asked her, leaning against the bars lazily. She glanced at him before shaking her head in response.

"Not really," she answered and shrugged her shoulders. "Though I do find it annoying that I'm chained up and you're not."

"You're part human too," he stated. "Those are probably chains from the human world to keep you in place. Something like that would be pretty pointless for me."

"That or they just think I'm more of a threat than you are," she replied smugly.

He smirked. Cheeky little brat. For some reason he couldn't help but find it amusing.

"How did you come to be a halfa anyway?" he asked. "I certainly don't remember you."

She looked a little surprised for some reason.

"You don't know?" she asked.

"Why the hell would I? I've been in a soup container the last year, remember?"

"Just figured someone had told you," she replied and then shrugged. "I'm... well, I'm a clone of Danny's actually. Vlad made me with some DNA manipulation. He wanted a 'perfect son', the jerk. He ended up practically throwing me away in the end. In some ways, he's my father and I have his genes inside of me, just like Danny's. Well, I guess technically from that stand point, both of them are my dad, but like I'd ever think of Danny like that. He's been more acting out the older brother role for me, helping me with a place to stay and all that."

He arched an eyebrow. A mixture of Vlad and Danny. Where had he heard that one before? Scoffing, he peered down the hallways. He didn't see any guards.

"Do you think you might be able to get out of those things?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "My powers are being completely suppressed, and as a human I'm just a thirteen-year-old kid. What do you expect me to do, break them in half or something?"

"Well, at the moment, you're really the only one who has a chance of getting out," he replied shortly.

"Glad for the vote of confidence, but I'm just as stuck as you are," she informed him. "Trust me, being human isn't really doing me any favors right now."

"Great," he muttered and looked back up at Clockwork. The older ghost hadn't said anything, hadn't moved, hadn't made the slightest change.

It pissed Dan off, and he didn't even know why. He didn't like seeing a ghost like him acting... well, weak. Not Clockwork, who had a little smile and witty comment at all times, who always knew what to do. It had never failed to piss Dan off, but seeing him without all of that was even more infuriating for some reason.

"When we get out of here, what's our next step?" he asked him, trying to get him to talk back.

"You assume I have a plan," the ghost muttered.

"You always have a plan," he said. "And we kind of need one right now if you haven't noticed."

For a moment it didn't look like Clockwork was going to respond before Dan found himself getting glared at by the ghost.

"Why am I the one who always has to decide what needs to be done?" he snapped suddenly. "Don't you get it, you fool? I lost. I don't know what to do. I don't have the answers and I can't do anything about it! All I succeeded in was making the situation worse! The Observants were right, I only provoked him, all because I could not see what was right in front of my eyes! If you get out you can do whatever you want! I don't care anymore!"

Dan was shocked at the outburst as Clockwork once again turned his back on him. He couldn't even get mad from being yelled at. The Time Master... had just given up?

"Clock," he said, his tone surprisingly soft, even to him. He didn't even know what to say. It was like he wasn't even talking to the same ghost anymore. And more than that, there was something else he said that didn't sit right with him. "You don't care what I do? Really? So what, once I get out of here, I'm free? No more having to work for you?"

Silence was the only thing that answered him and he growled in anger.

"Well fine then," he said up to him. "Then I know the first thing I'm going to do. I think I'll torch the Ghost Zone. Course, we'll have to start with this prison, considering how annoying Walker has been. That ought to be fun. After that, hell I think I'll go after Ember. She's always worth the screams she makes. Oh no, better than that, I think I'll go on to the human world. Slaughter a few cities as a warm up before I really get into the swing of things. And you don't care?"

Clockwork against said nothing, though if Dan had been paying attention he would have seen Dani was watching them, suddenly interested.

"Yeah, you know what, that sounds like a great idea," he continued. "I lost my world, but who the hell cares? Now I can just start fresh, burn everything to the ground. I made it last ten years last time, bet you I can do better my second try."

Still nothing and Dan began to growl and he gripped the bars tighter.

"Dammit Clockwork!" he shouted up at him. "You know as well as I do I'm not going to do any of that. And you know why? Because you wouldn't let me! Because you do care! I don't think I've ever seen a single ghost, hell a single person, that cares as much as you do! Shit, I don't care at all! But you know what, you're better than me! You're no good at being cold, so knock it the fuck off! Think of everything that could happen if you don't try to stop it. You're this pathetic cause of Opal, one girl? How you do think you'll act if that asshole wipes away whole worlds? I'm not going to let you be that damb pathetic, you got it? Clockwork, fucking answer me!"

For a moment it didn't seem as if he had gotten though and he was about to start shouting again before the manipulator of time slowly turned and looked at him. He didn't say anything for a while, just stared at Dan until for the briefest of moments, he smiled a little bittersweetly.

"I never imagined I would be receiving a pep talk from you," he said.

"I only want out of here." he said.

"You're a horrible liar," Clockwork responded. "But I suppose I owe you thanks all the same. You're right. As often as I have given people a second chance, it seems idiotic not to take one for myself. But in all your screaming, I don't suppose you've devised a plan?"

"It's a work in progress," Dan snapped. "Of course, I don't see you coming up with any ideas."

"I'll set right to it," Clockwork replied. "Walker is nowhere on my level. I'll figure something out."

"About damn time," Dan muttered and looked over at Dani. He was a little curious why she was giving him such a strange look and... what the hell was she smiling about? "What?"

"I'm not sure," she said then giggled softly. "I guess I was just a little surprised, maybe. I dunno."

Dan looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Just that you care about him so much," she said. "I never would have thought... Anyway, it hardly matters right now. We need to think of a way to get out of here, then find the others. Finding any of them in this maze is probably gonna be tough. We'll need a plan."

The comment was quickly forgotten by the girl, who set to tugging at her chains again, maybe trying to force her transformation. It seemed both she and Clockwork were set for trying to escape now, yet Dan didn't feel as pleased as he should have. Something she had said, an innocent little comment she had made caused him to stop short.

He cared about Clockwork?

End of Chapter Seventeen

Hm, not as pleased with this chapter. For a comeback, I have to admit it's not terribly impressive or action packed. I can only hope that last little bit provided some entertainment.

Still, I am happy that I was able to get this out. It seems as if I have been hitting no end of hurdles writing these last few chapters. Disappointing to you guys I'm sure after such a steady update schedule. I'd like to say that I'm getting back in the groove of things, but the truth is, finals are coming around the corner yet again, so I have no idea how frequent I'll be about this. I'll try, but I just don't want to promise anything.

Also, this marks my first time writing Walker. Hope I portrayed him properly. Honestly, I've only ever seen the first episode he was in. Well, that and the Christmas special where he teased Ghost Writer. Cute.

But as I've said countless times, review to let me know what you think. Any comments, questions, feedback, or anything else is more than welcome.


	18. Motivations

Ah, yet another chapter of this modest little story. Actually, little isn't really what I could call it any longer. Eighteen chapters and honestly, it' still going pretty strong. And, as as you all seem to enjoy it, I doubt you guys mind at all.

Oy! Awesome news. I now have a beta! Yay! Go me! Rin Flowers has graciously agreed to check out my work, so hopefully this will mean a definite lack on all the grammar errors from now on. I know it wasn't terribly bad, but it still irritated me and few other people, I'm sure. If you do not know this person, I would suggest you check her out. She is a pretty cool writer, though a touch on the morbid side and she just happens to be one of thee best Danny/Dash writer/artist I think I have ever seen. Trust me, I couldn't stand the couple before her work converted me. It's good.

Not so awesome news, she tried, but was not able to read this chapter. She's having issues with her comp that I in no way blame her for, so start expecting the error free stuff next time. Did my best to clean this up on my own, but... Yeah. I can never find them all for some reason.

So yeah, an update on Danny Phantom. I still don't own it, BUT I have now purchased all the episodes off of Itunes. Cool, huh? It might help inspired me for some one-shots.

Or I might just watch all of them and waste time I could spend writing. Who's to say? In any case, don't sue me, Hartman. I ain't got crap anyway.

Chapter Eighteen: Motivation

Angela had to admit, when she had been ordered to fetch all of her "employer's" slaves, she had thought it would have been for something a little more grand than hiding away in a library. Everywhere she looked she saw a ghost, all of them tearing through the bookshelves and tossing texts aside onto increasingly growing piles on the floor. She could only wonder what they were searching for, once again uninformed about what was going besides for the most basics of orders.

And she'd been ordered to do nothing. Absolutely nothing but to sit tight and wait for new orders.

She had tried to check out a few off the books, learn something, maybe figure out what was going on on her own. She knew what this place was from her first encounter with Danny, and that all the books were suppose to be history books to the different worlds or something like that. But when she'd opened up any of them, it had been completely and utterly pointless. She hadn't been able to read a word. All the letters changed too fast, like she'd been hallucinating or something when looking at the pages.

At first she had thought it was only one book, and then maybe perhaps she was doing something wrong. After all, none of the others seemed to show any sign of difficulty as they searched through the endless swirling pages. The mercenary could only guess the others understood it because of the Observant's control over them. She herself given up after only an hour of the crap.

Of course, she was now left with nothing to do. Once the armies had been brought to the Observant, she'd been told to simply wait until the time was right.

But right for what? She mused about it all as she wandered down the halls. It was already reaching the end of the second day, and nothing had been accomplished yet. She sighed, wondering just what was happening in her own world. Were Malcolm and the others okay? She hoped they weren't doing anything stupid, like trying to search for her.

She found herself hoping Malcolm had found his sister, though she had no idea why. It was such a silly thought, seeming so insignificant right now. It brought her comfort though... for some odd reason. What she wouldn't give to simply go back in time and take back everything she'd done so far.

Growling in anger, she felt her temper flickering to life. She was no good when she wasn't doing anything. She needed to take some kind of action, something to focus on anything besides her own doubts. In her own world, there was always something to do. A battle to prepare for, training, fighting, and even after everything had gone to hell, trying to survive. That had been a full time job all in itself. Just sitting around doing nothing... _unable_ to do anything...

She clutched the stitch in her chest with a snarl before she heard a similar sound of frustration. Curious, she moved her way past the bookshelves and saw, much to her surprise, Wraith sitting on the floor. His knees were pulled up to his chest and there was a glare set on his face that she half-expected to melt the floor that he had his gaze locked onto. Everything about him radiated danger right now, much like an animal who just wanted to be left alone before it was tempted to get violent. It _was_ obvious he wanted to be left alone. She noticed all the other ghosts were just ignoring him, as if the child that was presently in his human form wasn't even there. She wondered, were they even aware of his existence or were they too preoccupied with the orders instilled inside of them to replace their free will to even notice him? Was he pointless to them unless it involved the Observant's will somehow?

She sighed. Somehow, that was just beyond pathetic, though she guessed in a way, their ignorance was bliss. She wouldn't mind not having to think right now, doing without the cabin fever that was quickly settling inside of her mind.

She continued to look at him for a little while, observing him. Angela should have figured on it actually, but he looked pretty different in his human form. It wasn't really his physical appearance though. Yes, there was astral glow about him and his features like hair and eyes were different, but it was something else than that. Something... well, just something more.

As a ghost he was pretty damn formidable, even for a kid. While it's not that he had power to burn, he certainly knew what he was doing. There was a cold precision to him. She wouldn't call it elegance, far from it. Fuck, he was _anything but_ elegant when he fought. He was too angry, too eager to see his enemy get hurt and suffer. But his actions were still smooth, still confident. When he fought, he knew what he was doing, and he was in no above not using every bit of training it was obvious he had to get exactly what he wanted.

As a human though? That was completely different. He still had that cold look in his eyes, but it somehow just didn't have the same affect. He looked more lost when he was mortal. It was as if when his power was stripped away, so was some kind of shield he could hide his emotions behind.

Or was she just making a mistake based on the fact she'd only interacted with him on a few occasions. It's not like she could really claim to know him well or anything. Was she just speculation on a stranger for the the pure fact that she was bored out of her fucking mind?

She guessed it was probably the case. And since she was so bored that she was doing that, she saw no reason not to go a bit further.

Besides, the poor kind really did look like he could a bit of company.

"Hey kid," she said as she walked up to him, a mere foot away and standing over his hunkered form. She didn't really care how pissed off he might be. She'd never really been known to be smart enough to leave things be. After all, she had ended up here by meddling, hadn't she?

"Go away," he hissed, not even looking at her. "I want to be left alone."

"And I want to be free in my home with no killer zombies terrorizing the planet," she replied calmly. "We don't always get what we want."

He glared up at her.

"What is it?" he snapped. "I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to talk to anyone! Leave me alone!"

She sighed and crossed her arms. What a brat.

"Look," she said. "I'm not here to mess with you or anything like that, okay? But I can tell that you're upset, and it would take a fucking moron not to realize why. Don't think you were the only one who got beat back there. Sometimes these sort of feelings are better if they're talked out with someone and right now... Well, shit, none of these guys are going to help, and I doubt our oh so charitable boss isn't too found of providing an ear to bitch at."

She paused, giving him a chance to say anything if he wanted. She'd said what she was there for, given her offer. If he wanted it, she'd listen even if it was only out of boredom, but if he told her to go away again then she could just respect his wishes and head off somewhere else. It's not like she _had_ to bother him. He just looked away though and she rolled her eyes at his behavior. Powerful or not, a brat was just a fucking brat.

"You know what?" she said, her tone making it obvious she was annoyed after just a short conversation. "Never mind. Go ahead and sulk. What the hell do I care?"

Turning away, she didn't even get two steps before his voice sounded and caused her to pause.

"I... i just never thought he'd actually... win," Wraith stated bitterly. "He got away and I couldn't do anything about it."

"Oh come on, kid," she said as she turned back to him. "He surprised you. It's not that big of a deal."

His murderous gaze returned to her and she snorted.

"Okay, fine. It is a big deal," she said. "The Observant certainly seems to think so too."

"How can you be so casual?" he bit out. "I thought you wanted to save those people. Why are you being so calm?"

"Calm?" she asked and barked out a harsh laugh. "Look, I'm anything but calm, but when you face things like this, you have to keep yourself together. I can't help anyone by falling apart."

"My father... he use to say the same thing," he commented softly.

"Oh yeah," she said, remembering vaguely hearing him scream out his past while all the fighting had been going on. The brat certainly sounded like he hadn't had things easy lately.

She supposed she relate to that.

"What was he like?" she found herself asking. She hoped he didn't get upset at her prying, but he only smiled faintly.

"He was great," he said, his face suddenly softer. "He was strong and confident, yet he was really caring too. It was always obvious that family was the most important thing to him, and no matter what was going on, he always had time for me. He taught me to be strong, but that it was okay to feel down at times, that those kind of emotions were natural and okay. Yet, even though he would always say that to me, he did his best to keep those kinds of things inside, to not show weakness to his family. He wanted our lives to be perfect and honestly... when he was around, it really was."

"Sounds like a good guy," she commented.

"He was," he said a little harshly, as if daring her to say otherwise.

"So what does Danny have to do with all of this?" she asked.

"My father tried so hard, harder than he should have been expected to, than _anyone_ should have been expected to. And yet he died, all because those Observants didn't care, as if everything we did was worthless. Danny Fenton got a second chance and it wasn't fair. If this Observant wants to fix everything, I'm more than willing to help him, just as long as I personally get to make sure that every single Danny out there, Fentons and Masters' alike, get hurt just as badly as I was."

Angela looked at him for a moment before sighing softly at his words and tone.

"And you think that will make it go away?" she asked.

"No," he muttered. "It never goes away."

"You're right," she said. "All you can do it wait."

"Wait?" he asked, obviously confused.

"Pain lasts, kid. It's how you know you're alive, that you're still there. And sometimes things leave scars that don't ever go away. But you still have to let them try to heal because over time, even if it never fades completely, it does get easier to deal with. Reopening the wounds all the time never makes it better, and thats all you're really doing."

"What right do you have to say that?" he asked, standing up roughly. "You're working for him too! Don't try to judge me!"

"I'm not judging you. Hell, I'm the last person who should do that," she replied then frowned. "But I am not going to lie that it pisses me off when a poor kid is being used in a war instead of being allowed to grieve his losses in peace."

Wraith blinked at her and she could tell he was a little surprised. It didn't seem odd to her though, how he was acting. She'd had experience with his kind. Kids his age, trying to act tough after just losing family or getting hurt. Their family was gone, or their home, or sometimes even their lives. Pissed off ghost teenagers wasn't at all rare where she was from, and neither were human ones. It was only the fact that he happened to be both at the same time that was weird really. Everything else had been a common for her. So common in fact, that she hadn't realized just how wrong it was until she'd been dead for a long, long time herself.

He didn't answer her and after a few minutes, she decided he wasn't going to. Not that that was going to stop her from making her point.

"Look," she stated and looked away as she crossed her arms. "We're both doing this for completely different reasons, and I'm not claiming to know you or to telling you what to do. Everyone has their own motivations that keep them going. I've had quite a few over my existence and they always somehow change. It use to be honor, then money, then rage, and now... Now I just want to help some people who helped me. If you know what it is you want, then stop moping and just do your best to get it. But if not..."

She turned away from him and started to walk away, but not before saying one last thing.

"If not, then there's nothing wrong with just wanting to honor your father's memory in peace. Just remember, you're not going to be able to do that and keep fighting."

He didn't say anything to her as she left. With her back to him, she really couldn't see his reaction to her words either, though she doubted there really even would have been much of one to see. Once she was out of his sight, she just sighed and scratched the back of her neck.

"Shit," she muttered. "Where the hell did that all come from?"

#---------#

In the darkness of Vlad Master's lab, the older man was brooding. It was something he was rather good at actually. If nothing else, he had had a lot of practice over the years. It was something he had done since his fateful accident, the one that had shaped his life into what it was today. He couldn't count the hours he had spent, at first in the hospital and then out of it, sulking in his own sophisticated and demur way as he formed plans and calculated steps to modify the world around him into the shape that best suited him.

He was also more than a little irritated at the moment. He never cared for the times when his manor was destroyed. It's not as if he couldn't live past it. After all, for a wealthy man, he wasn't terribly caught up on material things. As nice as they were, he knew fully well people were much more important, though a little harder to acquire some of the times. Simple objects could be purchased easily. Still, it rather annoyed him when his equipment was trashed beyond repair.

However, he hadn't really done much to replace any of it. Cleaned up a little? Yes, though it still looked cluttered with some of the remains of broken machinery and shattered glass cleared off to the side. Any other time he would have had it taken care of in less than a days time, if not within the hour, but as it was he had a few other things on his mind.

Danny was gone.

Vlad was aware how some of his actions could be seen as overbearing to the boy. Youth always did have a tendency to see the world in black and white, instead of the complex place that it really was. He sometimes had to wonder if perhaps the boy saw he was a bit more corrupt than what he wanted to admit, even as he was so desperate to put Vlad in the "bad guy" category and paint himself up as the hero.

However, despite all of that, Vlad honestly did care about the teenager. As cruel and malicious as Daniel might have thought him to be, he wanted the boy to be safe and well-cared for. He didn't like it when he heard about him getting attacked every other day by any ghost nobody who thought he or she deserved Amity Park. Even if it made him proud that the boy, as untrained as he was, could fight them all off.

Vlad had always done his best to stay on top of whatever was happening around his soon-to-be son. Maybe some would call it stalking. He saw it as being well-informed. After all, how could a parent protect their child without knowing what was going on in their life?

It was no doubt exactly why he was so angry. His young Daniel was gone, disappeared and so far all of his efforts to find him had given him little.

It had only been a couple days since he had lost the boy from his lab. The same day that odd ghost had shown up, a woman with a foul mouth and even worse manners than Danny. Any fool would see the connection between them. It had only been staring at him right in the face the whole time she had been fighting him, though what the connection was, he couldn't possibly fathom.

At first he had thought she was simply yet another ghost that wanted claim on the city of Amity. Many ghosts knew of the now infamous Danny Phantom, saw the line he had effectively drew in the sand and stated "Stay away from here". If there was anything about ghosts that Vlad knew, it was that they loved a challenge. It seemed to give them a thrill, perhaps like a rush that made them feel like they were still alive. As a halfa, he couldn't really say he had the same feelings, or if his theory was even correct, but he could only assume that explained their strange and sudden fascination with the otherwise quiet town.

After all, there had been natural ghost portals even before the Fenton's and his constructed ones. Who was to say they could not simply go to a different town to rule, one unprotected by Phantom?

Vlad did not think it was in any way, shape or form the town of Amity Park that attracted them. No. They wanted Danny. Amity Park as their domain was simply a bonus.

However, it didn't appear to be the case with that woman. As quickly as she had appeared, she had been gone. Even the other ghosts would have taken Danny's absence as a chance to set up in town and wait for him to return, to try and change the home field advantage to their own favor and gloat how they had taken over while he had been unable to stop it.

But this ghost Angela had done none of that. In fact, her disappearance had been at the exact same time as Danny's. She had no interest in the town, even if it was just for show. It was as if she was hunting him for some reason.

It really did not surprise him that such a ghost might be after Danny, but it did not answer his question on why. If he had known that the boy was going to disappear off the face of the earth, he would have tried to hold her for more questioning.

He couldn't even find out anything about her. No matter who he sent out to find her or any ghost he questioned, there was no luck. No one knew her, seen her, or had even heard of her before. Not even Skulker seemed to have any clue who she might have been and Vlad considered him to be incredibly well informed on the little details that tried to hide away in the Ghost Zone. After all, the hunter would have been a terrible at his profession if he didn't have that at least in his arsenal.

His theory that she might just be a hunter like Skulker had rattled around in his mind, but not for long honestly. Her actions had been too personal for someone who only wanted Danny out of sport and she had brought up something about her world. Her _world_. The phrasing, along with everything else that had happened reeked of something bigger, much bigger, going on here.

It was a little maddening to the man actually. It was if there were several pieces to a puzzle lying on his desk, but only for half of it. There were too many holes, too many unexplained questions and theories with no proof to back up, or not enough proof against it to say that it was impossible and the idea simply needed to be put to rest so he could focus on other things.

The only thing that kept him from wondering if perhaps the worst had happened, something that made his blood boil even considering it, was the reaction of the Fentons. His dear, sweet Maddie was an excellent mother, one that would have jumped immediately into action if she had any suspicion that her son might be in danger. However, despite his two day long absence, she had done nothing more than go along with her usual routines, along with the rest of the family.

It meant that his family knew what was going on. They did, but Vlad didn't.

That in itself really didn't do anything to improve his mood.

He would have considered simply going over there himself and trying to find out what was going on, but he wanted to save that for a last ditch effort. As bumbling of a fool that Jack was and as easy as it would be to coerce the information out of him, he knew he now had to be a bit more careful around that place.

Danny had shed his secret. The world now knew of his status as a half ghost and a hero, and Vlad's little bargaining chip over the boy was gone. He was sure his parents would now believe anything that he said, even if it included the impossible truth of Vlad Master and the Wisconsin Ghost being the same person. And while for some reason that Vlad was not quite sure of, Danny wanted to keep Vlad's secret, the same could not be said of his older sister. Her mouth was probably much more loose on the matter, much more likely to burst out the facts at an inappropriate time.

No, he could wait a little longer before going that route. As worried as he was over the boy, Vlad was not about to let himself get carried away. He had sent out every ghost he had in his power to look both for Danny and Angela, and he was not going to start taking rash actions until he knew for sure they weren't going to find anything.

Even so, even though he considered himself to be a patient man, he did not like all of this waiting. He would have gone out looking himself, but he wanted to be at his home, where he could be found by his minions in case anything happened.

Besides, he still did have a city to run. Political matters certainly didn't take care of themselves.

All he could do was take what he knew and plan accordingly. Take steps that were appropriate and nothing more. He had sent his ghosts to the most likely spots that the boy might be at, taking care of whatever it was that he was involved in. It was Vlad's plans and level head that would turn this whole mess to his advantage, not running off like a child to look for his lost toy.

Even if that's what he really, really wanted to do.

His thinking probably would have continued like that for a while if not for the distraction suddenly sounding behind him. Fluttering wings would have been hard to miss in an underground lab, no matter how deep his musings might have been, even if the birds attached to those wings had been small. As it was when he turned around he saw in the dim light, three vultures which were a little on the large size even for their species, he wasn't at all surprised that they were exactly who he most wanted to see anyway.

Well, to be honest, he would have been most happy to see Daniel there, but this was admittedly a definite step in the right direction.

The vultures where actually some of the ghosts he had had in his service for the longest amount of time now. They had no pay, complained a lot, yet were loyal for some reason. He'd done little more than order a birdbath almost the size of a jacuzzi for his garden and within two days of it's arrival he had found them splashing around in it. Within the hour they'd become his minions. Even he wasn't entirely sure why and how it had all worked out.

Still, they were good at what they did, even if it wasn't much. They had a knack for getting in and out of places without being noticed. He attributed it to the fact that animals with human intelligence just happened to be an incredibly rare thing, even for ghosts. He doubted many who didn't know who they worked for ever gave them a second glance, even with those ridicules hats of their's. It had made them particularly good candidates for scoping out the lair of the Observants. After he had heard them mentioned it would have been foolish not to investigate there first.

Considering he had ordered them not to return until they found Danny, a lead to where he might be, or they were absolutely sure there was nothing to find at the Council's domain, he was fairly sure they had been successful. They would not have come back after only two mere days of looking if there had been nothing to report. Maybe it was their age, but they always took their time with these kinds of tasks. If nothing else, they were on the thorough side.

"What did you find?" he asked, not caring if his tone was eager or not. It was no secret that this was an urgent search.

"Sheesh," the head vulture replied, his crisp black eyebrows knitting together over his crimson eyes. "You'd think we'd get a little bit better of a greeting than that. No 'How are ya?' or 'Have a nice trip?'. No, just plain ol' 'Whadd'ya find?' No decent work relationship here at all."

"A cryin' shame," his brother in the sunglasses croaked out and the third nodded his beaked head in obvious agreement.

Vlad sighed, not really in the mood for this. Sadly, as effective as they could be at times, they were still centuries, no, millenniums old. It came with a bit of a cranky attitude. Even though it was perfectly clear who was in charge, they had absolutely no fear of him. He was more powerful then they could ever hope to be, but they still made it clear that they could not be intimidated.

Mostly because they just didn't care. They were older than him. That was all that really mattered in their eyes. And as irritating as they could be at times, he didn't think he'd ever be rid of them, even if he wanted to be. So, despite the fact that he was _their_ boss, he stood still and quiet through the complaining, only catching every other word of their yammering.

He was sure he heard video games blamed a few times, something that caused him to raise an eyebrow. Did they think he was five?

"Okay enough," he said and waved his hand in annoyance, effectively cutting them all off as they tried to one-up each other on exactly what they all thought had spoiled the world and when. "I see you all came back, so I doubt very much the trip was unpleasant for you in anyway. If I'm wrong and you were seen, captured, chased, or anything else, feel free to bring it up now."

Silence answered him and he smiled.

"Fine, glad to see I was right to begin with," he told them. "Now, don't make me ask you again after this. What have you found? I assume it must be something considering you're all back from your assignment so soon."

"Ah, that we did!" the one in sunglasses replied excitedly. "We found your Fenton kid."

"How many times have I told you not to refer to him by that na... Wait, you found him? He's with the Observants?"

Despite the fact he himself had told them to search there, it was a bit surprising. It had been a bit of a long shot in his mind. Of all the places in the Ghost Zone, what would his son be doing there?

"Well," the leader of them said a bit hesitantly. "That's not exactly the case. Actually, it really aint the case at all. Ya see, well..."

"What?" Vlad asked tersely.

"The kid kinda got arrested by Walker."

"What?" Vlad cried. "Arrested?"

"I know," the third vulture said. "Isn't this the kid's third time or so? Ya figure he'd learn to be a bit more sneaky with what he does by now."

"Youth always has big heads. Why, when we-"

"ENOUGH!" Vlad shouted. "Why is Danny in Walker's prison? What's been going on?"

"Well," the one in sunglasses replied. "We aint really sure on all the details, but from what we gather hanging out near those Observant fellows' place is that he disobeyed their orders somehow. Now his actions earned him a nice little cell until it's all straightened out."

"I don't suppose you happen to know what he did?" Vlad asked, though his hopes weren't high.

"Not a clue."

"Of course not," the billionaire sighed. That only would have been convenient. "What about this Angela woman. Was she with him or the Observants?"

"We didn' hear a darn thing about a woman ghost," the leader replied. "Though we did hear that the Fenton kid isn' the only one who got taken to the slammer. Apparently it was a whole darn slew of 'em, including a few friends of his that you don't have recorded in yer little home movies."

Vlad would have corrected them that it was video surveillance from spy cameras, but at the moment he was too interested in their report to care about whatever their senile minds thought at the moment.

"What kind of friends?" he asked.

"A couple ghosts," the leader replied. "One was definitely not someone we've seen before, though I could swear I'd seen the other before. Was hard to tell, since he couldn' seem to stay at one age for too long. Kept changing like the weather that one. The others, well, besides his two human friends, there was another. An older female human."

"A shapely human woman," the third replied and despite having a beak and no lips, Vlad would swear that he was grinning when he winked. "I tell ya, if she was a few centuries older I wouldn't mind having her to-"

"How many were there exactly?" Vlad asked, intentionally interrupting that line of commenting. There was never going to be a time in his _entire life_ that he was going to want to hear the rest of that sentence.

"Seven," the one with sunglasses answered after a few moments of pondering. "The Fenton kid, yer creation of him, his two human friends, and the other three we just told ya about."

"You're sure?" he asked. He did trust them, but... Well, he did acknowledge they were over two thousand years old. It was bound to affect just about anyone's mind, especially the memory.

"Positively."

The middle-aged halfa stroked his beard in thought. He had a little more information, even if it wasn't a lot. He'd say there were more questions brought up than answered by the report, but at least they had found Danny for him. That was worth it in his mind.

Though he was now presented with a problem. Danny was currently being held for whatever it was that was going on. His suspicions of the Observants being involved were confirmed, though he still didn't know the why or how. He supposed it would just take more digging, but for now he was going to have to see to his son getting set free.

"You three," he said to the vultures. "Find Skulker for me. He shouldn't be far. I wanted him to stay close in his searching anyway."

"I take it ya gotta plan?" the leader asked.

Vlad chuckled.

"When do I not?"

End of Chapter Eighteen

One thing I want to before I do anything else, I fucking love those goddamn birds to death! Seriously have you ever seen better minion characters in a cartoon before? They're scruffy, funny, and I love how they talk back to Vlad as if they couldn't care less that he could blast them into the Stone Age. Yet they are still loyal to him, though it never did explain why in the show.

I think a kick ass bird bath is as good a theory for those guys as any.

In any case, yet more talking. A look in the bad guys and what they're doing while Danny and Co. are incarcerated. Angela and Wraith seem to be bonding in their own weird way, and as always, Vlad is being dastardly while trying to win the father of the year award.

God I love intricate characters.

Oh, and just so everyone is clear on the time line, this is the second day of Danny and the others being in jail. I know I stated it twice in the story, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew for sure this wasn't all going on at the same time. No, time is passing as everyone is trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Sorry if I appear redundant here, but I was a little worried it might appear like everything was unraveling itself within five minutes of Danny waking up and I didn't want a pointless scene of him just for the fact that a day has passed since he woke up. Just wanted to make sure it was all crystal clear.

So, aside from that, please leave a review. As I have stated so many times before, they just make my freaking day to hear what you all think of my writing.


	19. Escape

You know, I had a list of excuses why this was so late, but honestly, you didn't come to read those. You came to read the story. Considering how I deprived you all so long, (And yes, that is me being cocky. Think I deserve it a little.) I won't make you sit through it. Just please enjoy the chapter.

Wait, the Chibi Ghost Writer is poking me with a pencil. What is it? Oh, I think he's trying to tell me something. Oh, it's a chibi suitcase! And a tiny stack of legal papers! And a chibi picture of chibi me poorer than I already am! How cute!

...

Wait a second.

Ugh, right, so I don't own Danny Phantom. It is purely for entertainment purposes and I am in no way making any profit off of this. The show and concept belongs to Butch Hartman. But I do own this exceptionally cute hallucination of the chibi Ghost Writer.

It's something at least.

Chapter Nineteen: Escape

"Where are my friends?"

Danny's question was ignored by the guard, his angry tone seeming to have no affect as the ghost picked up the tray and turned his back to the boy. He'd fed the prisoner and now his job was over, despite all the protesting and fighting the teenage halfa had done. The teenager glared at him before the door was slammed closed and a tell tale clang of the lock being firmly put back into place rang in the boy's ears.

It's not like he had never spent time in Walker's prison before, but it had not been like this. He'd been given time out of his cell, able to walk around at least. Of course, he did not expected that freedom this time, knowing as well as anyone else that he could just walk out if he wasn't chained up. As it was, he could barely move, much less get out of the room, or out of the prison.

This was much, much worst than his first visit. Alone most of the time, Danny had only his thoughts to keep him company as he sat in the dark. Time crawled by slowly as he was forced to sit there, his mind desperately trying to come up with some idea of how to escape. The only break from it was when his meals came, though it wasn't much comfort. He wasn't released and was forced to be hand fed. Seemed Walker didn't want any chances being taken and Danny wasn't seeing any other opportunity to get out. He didn't even know where everyone else was or what was going on outside. Aside from the first visit he had gotten from the warden, he had no information to go on.

He mentally counted up his meals and realized that unless he was getting fattened up for some reason and being fed more than three times a day, that should have been dinner. It meant that this would be almost the end of his third day here. He groaned, wishing more than anything he had some way to escape.

"Where's Desiree when you need her?" he muttered before a loud yell sounded outside the door, followed by a sickening crash and a thump.

He blinked, wondering if maybe Dani or Sam had gotten free before he heard something like metal twisting and snapping in half. The door opened as light flooded onto the floor walls, but Danny's hopeful expression suddenly morphed into shock.

"Skulker?" he asked before the armored ghost shot two separate blasts at him, bursting at the wall behind Danny and destroying the stone that was keeping him stuck in place. "Hey! Watch it! You almost hit me!"

"Hmm. I did, didn't I?" the hunter asked as he strode up to the boy and yanked him to his feet by his chains. "I should work on my aim. To think I missed you."

Danny swallowed, actually wondering for a second if the guy was joking or not.

"We need to get these off of you," Skulker mused as he inspected the chains connecting Danny's wrists together. A blade shot out from his wrist and sliced through them easily, leaving only bits of metal to fall to the ground.

"Uh, Skulker," Danny said, trying to ignore the cuffs still on his wrists. He wasn't too keen on Skulker trying to get those off any time soon, not with the way he'd dealt with the chains anyway. "Not to sound like I don't appreciate it, but what are you doing here?"

"Simply seeing to your escape," he replied simply as he looked out the door then back at the teen. "What are you waiting for? Transform."

"Uh... I can't," he replied and held up the cuffs. "Powers being blocked."

"You're kidding?"

"Nuh uh."

Skulker groaned and slapped his face in irritation. Danny would have actually felt sympathetic to him if he weren't too busy thinking about the fact he was suddenly free and could help his friends.

"Fine," the larger ghost growled. "It shouldn't matter. The guards will be busy any second and I can handle those that you can't."

"What do you mean by busy?" he asked before he jumped slightly at a sudden alarm sounding. He covered his ears, the dense quiet being shattered by the loud wailing was hardly comfortable on his ears. Before he could even ask what was going on he was suddenly grabbed, Skulker dragging him along with by one of his cuffs as he left the cell and started running down a hall.

"Now that the distraction is underway, I need to get you out of here," he explained quickly. "Come on, keep up."

"Hey wait, are you going to tell me why you're here or not?" he demanded. "And just how do you know where the others are?"

"Others? What are you talking about?" Skulker asked as he stopped to turn and look at the boy in confusion.

"Uh, hello? Sam, Tucker, Dani? Ring any bells? Not to mention everyone else that-"

"I was employed to retrieve you and only you," Skulker cut him off suddenly. "We leave the others."

"What?" Danny yelled and tried to yank away as he started getting drug off again. "What do you mean employed? Did Vlad send you here?"

"Yes, now be quiet," he hissed back at the boy.

The ghost suddenly pressed him up against the wall and hunkered close to him before going invisible. The human teen eyed the pair of upcoming guards running in their direction. Seemed whatever this distraction was that was causing that alarm hadn't kept everyone busy. Walker had probably known it was to get Danny out and had sent some ghosts to ensure he hadn't gotten away. Skulker was obviously was trying to hide from them instead of an altercation and he grinned maliciously at the hunter's scowl, opening his mouth wide in preparation to yell.

"Don't you dare," Skulker snarled in his face.

"You want to end up in here too?" he simple snapped back. "Help me or I'll make sure we're caught. I can probably slip out in the confusion, since the only way you have to hold me is this stupid cuff I'm wearing. It's gonna be easier on both of us if we work together though."

The hunter frowned and glanced at the guards for a moment before nodding. Danny, trusting Skulker could keep his word, kept as silent as possible as they passed. He did his best to keep from breathing, knowing that as tough as the ghost was, two on one wouldn't be easy on him if they happened to get caught.

The second they passed, Skulker yanked away from Danny and jumped the two. There was shocked yelling and some resistance, but the halfa wasn't surprised when they both fell to the floor unconscious, his unexpected savior barely even winded from the scuffle.

"I want you to know that you are being incredibly annoying, whelp," Skulker informed him. "If it weren't for Plasmius wanting you alive, I would have just drug your carcass out by your broken throat."

"Nice image," Danny muttered. He wasn't too happy about the thought of Vlad waiting for him with open arms once he got out of the prison, but there were worse things he could think of. Not like he hadn't gotten away from that jerk plenty of times before. For now, he was willing to see this as a mixed blessing. Very mixed, but he knew beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Where are they?" Skulker asked, the slightest bit of a growl in his voice making it obvious he was not in the mood to sit around and wait for them to get caught.

Danny shook his head though. He didn't have the slightest clue where they might be, as much as he wished he did. He saw the ghost frown but only shrugged. There wasn't much he could do about it, as much as they would have liked to. Sadly, the boy had long since learned that life was never that easy when you really needed it to be.

"You're the one with all those homing signals and junk, not me," he replied. "Can't you find them?"

"If I have something to track, like DNA," he replied. "Your little friends were never anything that were worth collecting though. For the exception of your clone, we'll have to manually search for them."

"Her name is Danielle," he said, annoyed before shaking his head. Now was not the time to be having this kind of argument with one of his enemies. "We'll get her first then. If we're lucky they're all in the same place. Which way are we going to need to go?"

He tried to be patient as Skulker input the information into his wrist computer. He was sure the ghost was just as eager to get out of there as he was, though the fact that he was willing to take his time to help his friends was not something he wanted to risk losing by bugging him to hurry up. Instead he kept his eyes peeled for anyone else who might pass by, knowing they needed to keep hidden for as long as possible if they were all going to get out.

"I got it," he heard the hunter say gruffly before he took down the way he had come from.

Danny followed as best he could, still stiff as a board. His muscles screamed at him in protest from the all the sudden running when he had barely moved more than a few inches for the last few days. The last thing he wanted was to be rushing around, possibly to get into a fight where he wouldn't even be very effective. It was his ghost half was more numbed to pain than his human side was, and he could not deny the insistent burning in his body that told him he needed to stop, or at least slow down. As badly as they wanted to lock up though, he didn't let himself listen to the agonizing messages his brain was sending him. He had to get to the others, pain or not.

Corridors flew by, and despite almost stumbling a few times, he was able to keep up with Skulker. The large ghost could have gone faster if he'd been flying, but with his green eyes almost glued to the screen on his wrist, taking his time was necessary. Still, they were making their way through the prison rather quickly. The screeching of the alarms were still as strong as ever, though it was all starting to blur in Danny's mind as he blocked it out. Even the aches in his muscles were gradually becoming easier to ignore, though he wasn't sure if was just getting use to the feel of it or if the adrenaline of finally being free and able to help his friends was what was getting him through it.

Seeing the hunter suddenly slow down was all the signal Danny had to the fact they were where they needed to be. A sharp turn to the left and suddenly he was greeted with the sight of a guard getting thrown in a wall head-first.

"Call me a pipsqueak again, I dare you," Dani said as she flew up to now unconscious ghost before she turned slightly and smiled when she saw her cousin a few feet away. "Danny! Hey, I was just coming to rescue..."

Trailing off at seeing Skulker by his side, she frowned suddenly.

"Let me guess. Vlad?"

"Be grateful we at least have that," Danny replied, though he wasn't really feeling any kind of conviction in his own words at the moment. "Skulker wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. He's the one who busted me out."

He left out the part that the armored ghost had only been sent for him. While he knew that Vlad's interest in the girl was secondary at best, now was definitely not a good time to bring it up for her to brood over. Getting out of there was going to be hard enough.

"How'd you get out anyway?" he asked instead.

"Well, when the alarm starting going off, some guards came to grab me, saying something about me getting busted out. There must have been some kind of power flicker though cause next second the anti-ghost shield around Dan's cell weakened for a second." She grimaced for a second and Danny didn't press her for details. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Anyway, this one tried to get away, probably to warn Walker and I went after him. Good thing we bumped into each other."

"Do you know where the others are?" Skulker asked.

"Clockwork and Dan where the only ones with me," she replied. "But they're not far."

"Great," he replied with a nod. "Let's go."

It didn't take them long at all to get back to where she'd been held captive and the place was a mess. Knocked out guards littered the floor, along with shattered glass, stone, and iron bars that were either melted or otherwise bent in half. In the middle of it were Clockwork and Dan, the later holding up the last remaining guard who was pleading and whimpering something.

"Okay, there weren't this many when I left," Dani noted dryly.

Clockwork turned at hearing her voice and chuckled a bit.

"His playing attracted a few more," he informed her. "And Daniel, I see Walker has been lacking on his task to keep his prisoners where they should be." Despite his the dryness to his tone, there was a smile on his aged face. "Of course, the alarm is a bit of a tip."

"Gee, you fucking think?" Dan growled as he tossed the guard aside, blasting him square in the chest to make sure he didn't cause any trouble for them later. The future version of Danny did not look at all pleased, even with the prospect of getting out. If the young halfa had been irritated at his imprisonment, it was nothing compared to the barely controlled fury his older self was feeling. He did not deal well with captivity, and after three days of not even receiving an opportunity to try and get free, his usual anger was instead more of a seething need to rip apart anything that got too close to him.

Skulker's eyes locked with the man's and Danny could suddenly feel the tension double in the room. He remember what had happened the last time these two had met and wasn't actually that surprised at the sudden angry expression on the hunter's face.

"Gee, this is gonna be fun," Danny muttered as he looked around. "Okay, we still need to get Sam and Tucker, not to mention Samantha. Anybody got an idea of what to do now?"

"Luckily the guards were rather helpful in informing us exactly where we needed to go, under Dan's persuasion of course," Clockwork answered. "Your two friends are in the west wing of this place, under maximum security because of how easily they might slip free, and Samantha is near the courtyard's inner wall. Of course, I'll have to be going to have a chat with Walker. He's in most likely the one in possession of my staff."

"All in completely different directions," he groaned. "Great. Okay, it looks like we have to split up. The faster we get out of here the better."

"I can go get Tucker and Sam," Dani volunteered. "None of Walker's ghosts will be able to touch me, and I can get them out of any real world encasing they are probably in easy."

Danny was about to object and say he should be the one to get them, but the look in her eyes made him pause. Skulker wouldn't go anywhere without Danny, and he was probably going to immediately drag him to Vlad once this was done with. Pulling his friends even further into trouble was not something he wanted. But if Dani just went for them alone, he'd be the only one having to worry about getting out of the fire after the frying pan. She probably knew this as well as he did.

"Okay," he relented. "Look, I don't know if you guys are aware of this like I am, but the Observant is in the Library and we have to get him out. I'll fill you in on everything else I learned later on when we see each other again, but for now that's the major bit of it. We can meet up later since staying in a big group is too dangerous here. Dani, once you free Sam and Tucker, get them both back to our house. I guess you're heading off to Walker's, Clockwork?"

"Indeed," the Time Master replied as he went up to Danny and took his hands. The cuffs fell off of Danny after a moment and the teenager rubbed his wrists in appreciation. "I had assumed I would be accompanied though. Dan?"

"Well, the warden does need a few comments on how we felt about our stay here," Dan replied cracking his knuckles and looking generally pleased by the prospect.

"Guess that leaves you and me to grab Samantha," he said to Skulker. A bright flash of white light encircled him, leaving him as Danny Phantom moments later and he grinned. "Now this is more like it."

The course decided, no one wasted any time in going their selected direction. Danny was still worried about his friends, but knew he was just going to have to trust them to his cousin for now. Their safety was ranking first in his mind, and they had a much better chance with someone else besides them right at the moment.

"You certainly have starting keeping strange company lately, whelp," Skulker commented as they moved through the prison, their pace much faster now that Danny could actually keep up by flying himself.

"Comes with saving the world," he stated flatly.

"Just exactly what are you involved in this time?"  
"Who wants to know?" he snapped back in response. "You or Vlad?"

"I'm always interested in the actions of my query," the hunter responded. "You should know that by now."

"Also know who you're answering to right now," he replied. He heard nothing else and guessed the ghost had relented.

It didn't take them long to get to the area that Samantha was suppose to being held. Danny was shocked when they arrived the chaos that was going on. Unlike himself and Dani, it seemed Samantha had been put in one of the more populated areas instead of in seclusion. It was also more like a battlefield right now, guards and prisoners fighting everywhere. It certainly looked like Dan wasn't the only one who'd been able to break free when the shield's had weakened, reminding Danny of the first time he'd been here and the prison break he'd started himself. He couldn't imagine Walker was going to be very pleased with him, whether he successfully saved the multiverse or not.

But where was Samantha? He didn't see her anywhere in the throng of the crowd that had yet to notice him or Skulker. Was she still in her cell, unable to break free for some reason? Or had she been able to get out and had started searching the prison in order to rescue him? He knew she would never just leave without him, at least, not unless she had no choice for some reason.

His eyes searched quickly, trying to see some glimpse of her among the many others before they caught sight on a door. From what he could see, it was the only one that wasn't open.

"There!" he shouted, pointing at it. "She has to be in that one."

Moving through the crowd, Danny had to dodge or knock aside a few ghosts, but otherwise slipped past them easily enough. Reaching the door, he floated to the small barred view window. He saw Samantha in there, sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs and her forehead resting upon her pale knees. Black hair curtained around her, hiding any features but Danny was worried simply from how she was posed. Didn't she hear what was going on outside?

"Wait a second," he muttered. "No plants or dirt... Oh no! Samantha! Samantha, can you hear me!"

It seemed for a moment he wasn't going to receive an answer before slowly her head lifted. Emerald eyes blinked slowly in confusion for a second before seeing Danny and she smiled widely as she quickly scrambled up and rushed to the door.

"Danny," she breathed, reaching for him between the bars and stroking his cheek softly. He allowed the touch, but was silently thankful that Sam wasn't there to see it. "I'm so glad to see that you're safe. What are you doing here?"

"There was no way I was going without you," he said, smiling softly at her.

Skulker watched the exchange with a slightly raised eyebrow, seeing little more than the hand still stroking softly at his prey's cheek. The action was obviously affectionate, and the look in the young halfa's eyes seemed just as heartfelt.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but we are in the middle of a jail break," he remarked dryly, only the smallest part of him wondering about the behavior and the fact that he was already involved in the goth child. The boy's mating habits really didn't have too much of an interest to him under normal circumstances.

"Oh, right," Danny said, pulling away.

"Who is that with you?" the female's voice called from the door.

"Help," Danny replied. "Back away from the door, okay?"

Skulker didn't wait for the confirmation that the request had been heeded before he moved to the door, a small cannon emerging from his wrist and blowing the door apart. Smoking for a few moments, a long haired woman stepped out, coughing a little and waving the smoke from her face, currently showing annoyance in their general direction.

Skulker's eyes widened a little in surprise. While he had known there was a woman in the cell, he had not quite expected what was in his sight at the moment. Full figured and dressed in almost a strangling exotic way, she had an air of wildness about her. She reminded him of a toxicant animal, captivating and poisonous at the same time, like a black widow or cobra. His interest piqued immediately, he could already imagine her inside one of his cages, loving to be the one who tamed such a creature. And yet, somehow in it all, she seemed so familiar. As if they had met before. It was preposterous though. He knew he would have remembered if he had come across someone like her before.

Her eyes met his for a second, but she was in no way enraptured as he was. Instead she frowned and moved closer to Danny. The action wasn't one of seeking protection however, instead pushing the halfa behind her in order to be the one protecting him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice cold, but not on the level of threatening... yet.

"You know me?" he asked curiously, an eyebrow arched in his confusion. Something was itching at the back of his mind, telling him he should have known the answer to that question already, but he couldn't quite put his finger on how.

"Samantha," Danny said, catching her attention in an instant. She turned to the teen and seemed to completely forget about the other man, something that oddly irked him. He shrugged it off, sure it was just because he was still trying to figure out where they knew each other from. "The others are already making their way out. We need to get going too. How are you feeling?"

"A little drained," she replied softly. "Walker has kept anything that might provide me power far away from me and like I told you before, unfortunately it's also my life force."

"Doesn't he know that?" he snapped angrily.

"I'm sure he does," she answered. "Though I doubt it was in his intention to do any lasting harm. He probably would have kept me sustained after making sure weak enough that I wasn't a threat. But you're here now, so it doesn't matter anymore. It won't take me long to recover once I have a proper place to get nutrients. Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Are you going to be able to fight your way out of here?" Skulker asked curiously.

"Would you like me to check? I would happy to start with you," she replied, her manner towards him as warm as ice. He heard the challenge in her voice easily enough, though he wasn't entirely sure why it was there. Whatever reason, she wasn't shy about letting him know how venomous she was towards him.

"Samantha," Danny said and once again she didn't hesitate to give him her full attention. Seemed the whelp was cooling point to her temper. "There's too much going on to be fighting amongst ourselves. Skulker helped me, and we really need to be going."

"Just so he could hunt you down," she accused. "He doesn't want anything more than to add you to his collection."

"Yeah, I know that," he replied calmly. "But I had to stick with him so I could find everyone."

She looked as if she were about to protest, before a bit of a smirk crossed over the teen's lips. It was one Skulker didn't have any trouble recognizing. It was the cocky little smirk the youth always wore when facing an enemy, right at the moment he was sure to win.

The hunter reached to grab him before the brat tried to pull anything, but his hand passed right through him. Danny had already transformed back to him human half and grabbed Samantha by the wrist.

"Sorry Skulker, but you can tell the fruitloop to bite me!" he snapped sarcastically before he dove through the floor, the woman following after him. Skulker watched shocked as his prize literally slipped through his fingers before growling in frustration.

He had expected a bit more fight out of the whelp than an underhanded trick like that. He had to say, he was a little disappointed.

#---------#

"You took longer than I had expected."

A mere few hundred or so feet from the jail house, Plasmius was watching the mayhem that was currently going on. Even from his distance, the wailing of the sirens and the chaos breaking out past the guarded walls were clear for his perception. Skulker had arrived only moments ago, flying away from the mess and looking relatively unscathed from the affair.

"There were complications," Skulker replied gruffly.

"I take it Daniel got away from you?" Vlad asked, noticing the fact that his employee was all alone in his return.

"Yes," the hunter admitted.

Vlad grinned.

"Excellent," he said. "Did he suspect the fact you allowed him to escape?"

"I doubt it," Skulker told him honestly. "But I don't understand why you just didn't allow me to bring him back here in the first place. Wanting his friends freed along with him..."

"I know Skulker, I know," Vlad replied, waving his hand dismissively. "I could have drug him back to my mansion and coerced him eventually into telling me what was going on while leaving his friends in Walker's jail to rot. I certainly put enough effort into keeping most of the guards busy to be bringing back a better prize than just the knowledge that my dear little Daniel is free. But the truth is, whatever mess he's currently in certainly needs to be cleaned up. Letting him take care of it is infinitely better than keeping him cooped up. And with his friends freed right along with him, he'll be in much better shape to handle the job."

He chuckled softly, his red eyes seeming to be aglow in the dim lights that was almost darkness of the Ghost Zone.

"No, I'll learn more simply from watching afar for the time being."

End of Chapter Nineteen

Well, I hope this was worth the wait for everyone. Actually, this was one of the chapters I've been wanting to write since the beginning. Remember all the way back in the Author's Note at the first chapter (and good lord does that seem forever ago) when I said there would be some pairings that I would not be mentioning at first?

Well, that was one of them. _ I actually have to credit Neoyi for that one. She is admittedly the first one who came up with Sam/Skulker (that I know of) and I adore the couple so much I could not resist my own interpretation of it. If you do not know Neoyi, she is the artist and author of a DP fan comic, Chess Piece, one that I really do enjoy. Her romances tend to go into left field a bit, either making me go "Whu..." or falling in love with a fresh new pairing. Well, in this case it's the second reaction. I just adore Sam/Skulker and decided to do not only a bit of a tribute to her, but to make my own attempt at the pairing.

Of course, I really didn't want to break up Sam and Danny. Despite all the yaoi I do, I like that coupling too, and I wanted Samantha in from the beginning. So viola! Twisted romance!

Well, okay Samantha and Skulker are not get off to be best start. She hates him, for good reason. He is hunting Danny after all. And he sees her more as a prey of some sort to hunt down and stick in a cage rather than any emotional attraction. But it'll get there.

Oh come on! They'll get over it you know! Don't you trust me?

Anyway, it's something I am going to be building up a bit to fruition. I hope everyone enjoys the budding romance. They'll produce sweet nectar together, I promise.

And now I am going to stop with the lame plant jokes and let you get to reviewing this chapter. Please?


	20. Hating to Care

Oh dear lord. We are now on chapter twenty of Time Will be the Judge. I have to admit, I'm happy to be here. I've never written this much for a story before and, despite a few upheavals and lot of delays, I think I've been able to keep with it rather well. It started as a rather enjoyable experience for me, and thankfully it has continued to be so.

I also have good news for everyone. A friend of mine has recently started reading this story and apparently is very impressed with it. So impressed that she's offered to turn it into a webcomic. She's a pretty talented artist, and I think she would do a good job bringing it justice. Now, I will still continue to write and post for this, but I thought perhaps it might be enjoyable for people to see the story in a somewhat different fashion as well. A lot of the details need to be hammered out, and she still has a comic she needs to finish first, but I'm looking forward to seeing this done.

It's been said more than once (actually a lot more than once) but I'll say it again. I don't own Danny Phantom, the character or the show. It belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. All I own is the concept for this story and the characters I have brought forth. This is purely for entertainment and my way of presenting my love for the show.

Chapter Twenty: Hating to Care

It wasn't surprising when things had started to quiet a little. Dan had not expected his younger counterpart to stay long after he'd escaped, and as Clockwork had predicted, the confusion was already starting to die down. Still, he could hear the faint sounds of rioting, a few still trying to escape from the jail. He'd be going soon too, but not before leaving a small... parting gift.

He grinned and looked up at the door proclaiming the warden's office, raised his palm, and blasted it apart as easily as if it were made of shallow plaster.

"Don't bother to get up," Clockwork said smoothly as he glided past the other ghost. "I only came to collect what's mine."

Walker seemed shocked by their forced entry, but he lowered himself back down at his desk. Green eyes slit in irritation and he snarled slightly. His gloved hand had been on the communication pipe at his desk, no doubt trying to shout orders to his men to organize the mess that was taking place in his prison walls. Clockwork glanced at it before Walker drew away from the protruding metal. It wasn't clear if the action was because he honestly felt threatened, or if he thought he could handle this situation himself, but the Time Master smiled pleasantly in either case.

"Clockwork," he bit out. "Just what in blue blazes do you think you're doing?"

"I should have thought it would be painfully obvious," he replied. "It's called escaping. I know it's not entirely a foreign concept to you. It has happened to you and this place before."

The warden didn't have a retort for the quip, but it looked like he would have loved to spit one out.

"Where is my staff?" the Time Master demanded. His expression and tone were calm, but he still had a threatening air about him.

However, Walker did not seem to want to be that cooperative. He merely scowled and turned his head up.

"You really think I'm going to tell you that?" he asked insulted. "This is my prison, and my rules. I give the orders here, not you."

"I'm afraid that arguing with you is hardly high on my priority list, Walker," Clockwork said. "Really, this is just suppose to be a quick in and out thing. If you keep us long, Danny might begin to wonder where we are. After all, we are suppose to be meeting him outside of this place."

"The ghost boy is already gone?" Walker yelled, jumping up.

"Oh yes, I imagine he's long gone by now," he answered. "But that's not what really matters at the moment. I do believe I asked you for the location of my staff. I can't stress enough to you how badly I need it."

"Yes, I bet you do, you lousy turncoat."

Sighing softly, Clockwork shook his head. He didn't seem very put out. In fact, he didn't even have the air of being annoyed, instead simply bored.

"Very well, I suppose you would insist on the hard way," he conceded. "It will make you look less bad in comparison to the Observants than if you were just going to give in. Don't think though that the logic will do anything to save you. Phantom, if you could."

Dan did not need to be asked twice, immediately going into action. The little warning Walker had from Clockwork's words barely did him any good. While he did throw up a shield, it was child's play for Dan to blast through it, the energy hitting Walker square in the chest. He gave a startled sort of grunt as he hit the wall hard enough to leave a few large cracks, his chair getting knocked aside as he tumbled.

"I suppose asking you to hold back is pointless," Clockwork said to Dan. It was more a statement than a question of any kind.

"Oh, wow. I see you got your foresight back. Good for you," the other ghost replied as he cracked his knuckles. Striding up to the desk, he effortlessly knocked the furniture aside, only to get ecto energy shot back right into his face.

"Arg!" he yelled, covering his face with both his hands and stumbled back. "God dammit!"

"You really think I was gonna let a little piece of yapping trash like you get the better of me?" Walker snapped as he got up roughly. "I will have order here! This is my domain! Did you really think you had any kind of chance of waltzing in here and making a fool of me?"

"Actually," Dan said as he lowered his hands with a grin before shooting forward and slamming his fist into Walker's stomach. Before the warden even had a chance to double over, he was grabbed by his collar and whirled around, getting slammed into the wall face first and his left arms pinned behind his back painfully. Dan smirked darkly and chuckled. "Yes."  
"You may or may not be aware of this fact, Walker," Clockwork said calmly, "but when Phantom first merged with Plasmius in his own world, you were one of his very first targets. He defeated you while he was still young, brazen, and not even in very good control of himself. Do you really think you have a chance now?"

The warden struggled, but it was a pointless venture. Dan did not let up, in fact every time the other ghost moved, his grip would tightening even more painfully. A small crack was heard from his held wrist, but neither Dan nor Clockwork reacted.

"You're making this more difficult that what it has to be," the Time Master stated. "I only want my staff back. Tell me where it is, and we'll leave you relatively unharmed. I doubt Phantom will be pleased in staying as gentle as I've asked him to be for very long."

Another crack followed, louder and much more sickening as Walker yelled out. Dan was grinning in pure glee as the warden ground his teeth together, forcing himself to quiet down again. He was not going to let the other ghost have the satisfaction, and he certainly wasn't going to give in.

"The Observants are going to get you for this," he hissed out. "They see you for the traitor you are. Let's see how far you get now that they're no longer turning a blind eye to you breaking their rules, thinking you're better than the rest of us. You'll fail Clockwork. You'll bring ruin to us all, just like the attack dog you've decided to keep as a pet!"

He must have thought it was his last act of defiance, and it certainly was. Dan's fist flared up with ecto energy before engulfing the other ghost. He snarled in the green light as the warden yelled out in the pain, finally releasing him so that he went limp and slipped down to the floor. Clockwork hadn't said or done anything during the little display but when the other turned roughly to him, silently daring him to berate him for what he had done, he sighed softly.

"All the power in world, and you haven't an ounce of control," he murmured before the much more impulsive specter glared at him. "I take it you have something on your mind? It's obvious you want to talk about it."

"I am not your pet," he seethed, his fists clenched. He looked as if he would love to tackle him, knock him into submission like he had done to Walker.

"I never said that you were," he answered. "Really Phantom, you need to stop caring so much about how others see you. It's a trait that just screams 'I'm a child'."

"Shut up," he hissed. "You do not own me and I won't tolerate anyone thinking I give a damn about you or what you want."

"Yes, yes. You've proven your point. You're your own man entirely. Now if you don't mind I have to-"

"I don't fucking care about you!" he yelled at the the Time Master suddenly.

Clockwork had to admit, that one surprised him. Care? Why in the world would he think he needed to state he didn't care about him? He was sure Phantom hated him more than anyone else in the world, for the possible exception of Danny. He had certainly never acted otherwise.

"Dan?" he asked, moving closer to him. He considered reaching out for him, but he was certain it would not lighten his mood in the slightest. No, it was best just to let him have his space. "We both know you hate me for entrapping you. I know you despise following my orders. You're not an 'attack dog' though. Think of yourself more as a... mercenary. You're simply working for your freedom. You were the one who made the choice."

"A choice?" he hissed. "What choice? I'm following your orders, do what you want me to, saving the fucking world and getting nothing but grief for it and you think I have any choice?"

"You could have stayed in the thermos," he replied. "You could have chosen to leave with Danny instead of coming with me to claim my staff. I may have requirements of you, but you know just as well as I do that I am not controlling your actions. You are."

Dan only snorted. Clockwork was an idiot. He didn't understand at all. Dan wanted him to be in control, to be the one forcing him to do things he didn't want to do. Not because he wanted to actual be controlled, but because if he was, he could still blame him. The fact that he was choosing to stay by his side and help him sickened him. He wanted to be angry, to feel like he was unjustified, not that he was choosing to go along with this out of the goodness of his heart or some stupid crap like that. He wanted Clockwork to gloat and force his actions like he had at the beginning as Dan had to begrudgingly go along with whatever he had planned. He didn't want him to talk kinder now. He didn't want him to point out he had a choice.

He wanted him to be wrong.

He wanted Dani to be wrong.

He... he didn't want to admit he had yelled at Clockwork, been so angry and desperate for him to listen, because he had fucking cared.

And he fucking wanted him to go back to being the omniscient asshole he was suppose to be so that he would already know all of this. Because there was no way Dan was going to lower himself to such pathetic standards that he was going to allow himself to explain all of this stupid crap to him. Why couldn't he just be able to magically tell what was wrong and throw it in his face, so he could just hate the pompous bastard like he wanted to?

But he wasn't going to get what he wanted, and it was pissing him off.

"Phantom?" Clockwork's voice gently broke through the silence. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he snapped, pushing roughly past him. "Let's just find your damn staff."

He watched Dan tear the room apart, honestly with much more ferocity than was needed, with a bemused sort of curiosity. It was amazing how often and how well a fully grown man of his power could remind Clockwork of a child. The ghost was obviously angry, but was insisting on throwing his little tantrum instead of just handling it. He supposed he should have known words wouldn't have soothed him though. Rationalizing through things was not the way to reach men like Dan Phantom. It just wasn't how they did things. How much easier it was for them to use their anger to push through things than actually attempting to be calm about it.

But he recognized the wall he had around himself at the moment. Trying to talk to him again would only result in more arguing, and they had overstayed their welcome too long as it was. Dan did not want to talk, and he wasn't going to let it be drug out of him. He had no choice but to table it for now and try again later.

Of course, he had a feeling he already knew what it was. Dan was a free spirit. He had been for a very long time. He did what he wanted, never having an obstacle in front of him that could stop him, at least not for very long. It must have been driving him mad to be shackled so. Clockwork doubted his false words had helped much. In fact, they had probably pushed him even more over the edge. They both knew he wasn't really free to choose, and the Time Master telling him that he was was simply patronizing.

His anger was sadly justified, even if a tad irritating.

"I got it!"

The sudden exclamation of triumph was of course made by Dan, who was actually grinning now. The expression he had was obviously of one that was pleased with himself. Clockwork's staff was held in one of his hands, and though the office was clearly a mess now, the Time Master easily felt that it was worth it. Apparently he'd had the bright idea to start tearing apart the walls, that or he simply was feeling that destructive at the time because a panel had been torn from one of the walls. Metal hinges were twisted and broken as if they were made of mere plastic.

Clockwork hadn't seen it when he had first come in, no doubt in his mind that it had been hidden, but when you were just tearing apart everything because you could, did being hidden really count for anything?

He chuckled softly and held out his hand. As childish as the ghost was, he had to admit, Dan certainly had his uses at certain times.

He was happy when it was passed back to him. The old familiar weight in his hand was comforting. He'd certainly missed it. The staff was merely an extension of himself really, and being without it had not been enjoyable at all.

"Well, I do believe it's time for us to leave," he said as he ran his free hand over the metal, checking to make sure it was not damaged or impaired in any way.

"Finally," Dan muttered.

"Don't worry," he replied as he opened a portal for the both of them. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't doubt Walker now has a full understanding of how you felt about your stay here. Now let's go. We have plans to make."

#---------#

Angela had not noticed at first when some of the Observant's 'army' was disappearing. There had been so many of them after all. It was like walking through an ant hill. The number of ghosts swarming in the Library was just too high for it to be noticeable if she did not see one for a while. Not only had not seeing a certain face not bothered her, it did not even occur to her that it should.

However, when it happened a few more times, it did strike her as a bit odd. The longer time went by, the more she would recognize the faces of the other ghosts, even the ones she had never met before. When she didn't see some of them after a while, she wondered what was going on. Were they simply searching another part of the large spectral building?

Instinct was telling her though that it wasn't that simple, mostly because it never was. Certainly not in war anyway, which was only her entire existence. She would have been crazy not to wonder what was going on.

When it was just a few, she merely searched the place herself. Only a few missing ghosts was not a reason to go to the Observant, and he had made it painfully obvious he was not to be bothered unless it was absolutely necessary. Not that Angela wanted to. No, whatever was going on, she could handle it herself. If anything even was going on. It could just her being paranoid, making sure everything was running smoothly.

A general could certainly take care of small things like this on her own. There was no need to risk angering her employer.

She didn't find anything though, no matter how hard she searched. And when she realized that ghosts she had seen only yesterday were gone now as well, she was in even less of a good mood. She questioned the others, as well as they could be questioned, but they were all so mindless she couldn't get anything from them. She wasn't sure if they did know and just didn't have the brains to tell her, or if they really didn't have the information she was looking for. So she ordered them to come to her immediately if they saw who she was searching for.

She even told Wraith to keep his eye out for them. She hadn't figured on him being too much help, but he surprised her when he said he would. He wasn't sulking anymore, so she was glad he was at least out of his funk. She didn't need anyone not to be pulling their own weight.

Time passed slowly though and she continued to search. The place wasn't so big that too many people could hide from her, not the way she was checking every room, stalking along every bookshelf to even see if she could catch a glimpse of one of them. Even thinking she saw one would make her feel assured that everything was going the way it should, but even that was denied her.

When it became an even dozen, she was getting very close to panicking. It didn't make any sense! No matter who she asked, she would always be told that no one knew where these people were, but she knew they couldn't be in the Library. They were just gone, and no one was reporting back to her about it. Two days had gone by already and twelve of her soldiers were just gone!

Angela tried to reason why they would be gone, but she wasn't coming up with any decent answers on her own. The shield was suppose to be impenetrable. No one could get in and no one could leave. If someone had left, she would have noticed.

Or at least she should have. She didn't want to admit it, but if the shield could get past, she certainly could. It's not like she hadn't been distracted by worrying over her city. No, not at all.

The thought that they had somehow escaped terrified her though. It meant two very important things. The shield was very flawed and it was only a matter of time before the forces outside were able to get in, and that the Observant's control over them through the quill was not working as well as he thought it was. Two things that would infuriate him, but if she held back the information, the consequences would be even worse when he did find out.

She didn't have a choice in the matter. She had to report to him and tell him the situation. One last check to see if Wraith had not seen anything went out the window when she saw him asleep, hunched over on the floor. She considered waking him up, but decided against it. What were the odds really that he had, especially if he had been unconscious? He was half human after all. He needed his rest occasionally if he was going to be a use to anyone.

So she let him be and went to the room that the Observant had holed himself up into. She noticed that she was the only one around, even the ghosts under his control giving the area wide berth. Stealing herself for the worst, she raised her hand and knocked on the door determinedly.

"Enter."

It was Opal's voice that answered, not that she was surprised. The librarian still being possessed only made sense. Angela walked in and saw 'her' pouring over a book on a table, brow furrowed and looking as if he were concentrating.

"What is it?" he asked, not looking up from whatever it was she was studying.

"There's a situation," Angela answered. "I think it's a problem, and decided to bring it to your attention."

The Observant looked up. The expression on the librarian's face was blank for the moment, but the mercenary had to wonder if it would stay that way for long.

"Some of your soldiers have disappeared. I tried searching for them, but it's been over a day now, almost two since I noticed. No one has reported to me about their whereabouts like I ordered them too and no matter how many times I go over the premises, I haven't seen any sign of them," she explained to him.

"I see," her boss replied, though he didn't look worried by her report.

"Do you have any orders?" she asked, wondering why he wasn't reacting. Did he not believe her or something?

"No," he stated. "Though I do appreciate you bringing this to my attention. It shows you are keeping on top of things and aren't just slacking. I'm happy with your work ethic, Angela. You aren't the loss I was starting to fear you might be. Though in this case your hard work was for naught, but I certainly won't hold that against you. I just didn't inform you what was going on."

"You know where they are?" she asked. "Were they given another assignment?"

"Oh yes, a very important one actually," he answered. He indicated to a corner of the room where a large tapestry was hanging. Angela looked over at it curiously, not sure what was going on.

"Is there something behind there?" she asked, pointing at the large piece of cloth.

"Oh yes," he replied, actually sounding cheerful for some insane reason. "Why don't you go look? I would hate for you to feel ill at ease about where they've gone. And others are certainly going to follow. Best you be fully aware of the situation."

Feeling completely lost, she moved over to the tapestry. What, where they hiding behind it? Or was there a portal there that he was using to move them into other worlds that his enemies just didn't know about so couldn't use it against him? As important as it was to him to find this damn book, it seemed pretty stupid of him to send his little helpers elsewhere when they could be looking for him.

She gripped the curtain in one hand and pulled it aside to see whatever it was he wanted to show her before jumping back in shock. She heard a slight rip, no doubt the tapestry that she was still holding, now in a death grip, but it didn't really register in her mind. Staring ahead of herself in horror, she wanted to yank the cloth back and forget she had ever laid her eyes on this sight, but her body was no longer listening to her commands. It was like she had been frozen, unable to move or even tear her gaze away from what was in front of her.

It was a machine of some kind, that much was easy to make out from the many gears, cogs and levers all over it. It was also huge, built right into the stone wall. Angela was actually surprised to see something so technological in a place that just reeked of older times. Attached to it though, was what had shocked her so badly.

It was one of the ghosts that had been missing. A younger one, just a teenager. Angela didn't know his name, but from the looks of it, it didn't matter anymore. Wires were piercing inside of his skin, shoved into his open mouth, even inside of his eyes. She tried her best not to look at the trickle of blood seeping from the too soft irises and down his cheeks like someone's sick idea of tears. He looked like he knew what was going on too, or at least was aware of the pain he must have been in. The expression on his face looked like he was going through something excruciating, and it was probably only the Observant's control over him that was keeping him from screaming or crying out.

"What... what the fuck is this?" she demanded, tearing herself away from the sight and rounding on him. "What the hell are you doing to him?"

"He's fulfilling a purpose, just like the others were," he answered, getting up and moving to the machine. Angela stepped back as he passed her, not wanting to be touched by him. "Do you know what this machine does?"

"No," she replied.

"I didn't think you did," he replied. "You see, this shield is not my own doing. Not really. The Library of Worlds has it's own defenses. This happens to be the machine that keeps that shield up, but it is not limited in energy. You see, the founder of this place, Scrinium would often use himself as a power source if his domain ever needed defending. It can not be broken though, as long as there is a constant power surge going through it. Of course, it can only be activated and powered by someone on his level. Some modifying was needed, but as you can see it took no time at all, and now anyone can be used to keep it running. Though while he could do it safely, it drains anyone lesser until they simply cease to be. That's to be expected though, considering how insignificant their power is in comparison to his."

"You mean, that thing is killing him?" she asked. "What about the others?"

"It requires a lot of energy. None of them last too long. The biggest stretch was only slightly over six hours," he informed her. "But as many as we have at our disposal, I'm sure we'll find my book before all the resources are used up."

"Resources?" she repeated back weakly. "Resources! That's a person in there! You're killing him all for this shield? Don't their lives mean anything to you?"

"My delusional little general," he said with a click in his tone, "why do you think I invaded your world in the first place? This is exactly why I needed an army, to keep myself from being able to get caught as I prepared the multiverse for the cleansing it has sorely needed."

"What?" she asked. "That was your whole reason for invading my home, for destroying our lives? All so you had some kind of battery system?"

"Of course. It was really the only good that could come from it, you know. Well, actually I wouldn't try to make it so personal if I were you. All I needed was a world that was too far gone to save. It was Wraith that picked the book. I simply told him what section to go to. In the end, it was fate that delivered them to this. They are playing such an important part though. They would feel proud, if they were capable of emotion anymore. They don't do me any good searching if I do not have the shield for protection. Everything I will accomplish, they will have been a part of it."

"If it needed someone powerful, why don't you get in there?" she demanded. "You're killing them for no good fucking reason!"

The glare shot at her told her immediately she had said the wrong thing. The Observant advanced on her, and even in Opal's frail looking body, it was no less intimidating.

"I am working," he said. "I do not have the time or energy to be wasting on the concentration that machine requires. If you find it so distressing however, perhaps you would like to volunteer to be the next one inside?"

Angela looked down, unable to hold his gaze and slowly shook her head. She didn't see it, but he smiled.

"Good. Now that that issue is out of the way, is there anything else you needed to report to me?" he asked.

"No," she said. "No, that was all there was."

"I'm pleased to hear that," he said. "Now, if we start to come close to running low on our resources, I will make the arrangements to getting some more. As it is though, I am sure we will be fine. So I suggest you go back to making sure the searches amongst the books are going smoothly and report to me if anything is found. Do you understand?"

She looked up at him and kept her face as passive as she could.

"Yes. I understand."

A small whimper sounded from the machine and the Observant looked over at it. Angela wasn't sure if she imagined it, but the expression changed for a moment, a flicker of something she could not place. No doubt he was just planning what to do if they did run out of victims. She found herself hoping they found this damn book soon.

"You can go now," he said suddenly, dismissing her and still looking at the machine. "Do not disturb me again unless it is absolutely necessary."

She nodded and turned from him, eager to leave, though she did her best not to show it. She did not want to be in that room any longer than needed. The thought of what was happening was too much, even if she didn't know half these ghosts. This level of cruelty was just sickening.

The Observant however moved closer to the machine, staring at it. Fingers twitched slightly before he tore his gaze away from it. He didn't move to cover the shield generator, instead going back to his table and book to read after a few minutes.

End of Chapter Twenty

Wow, is he a dick or what? I usually like at least a trait or two when it comes to bad guys, but this one just sucks. I don't think there's a single good thing about him. Well, at least I know I can write a dick if I need to.

Hope his general asshole-ness was made up for the fact there was some more Dan and Clockwork interaction. Yay! They're talking and Dan realizes he might actually care about the other ghost! See, I told you it was romance. I TOLD you it was going to have Dan/Clock in it! They're taking their sweet ass time getting there, but you can't tell me there isn't progress being made.

And oh those two. They're so worth the laughs. Dan can't just get over himself and talk to the other, and Clockwork is so full of himself even when he says Dan has a choice, he doesn't think he does. And of course being all knowing most of his existence, he is so sure he knows what is wrong with the other he doesn't even think he could be wrong or not know what is going on.

They're both so thick. I love them and hate them at the same time.

Hey, I got an idea. Why don;t we celebrate the twentieth chapter coming out by reviewing this story! Yay! Seriously though, please?


	21. Loyalty, Lies, and Love

Oh god, you know it has been far too long since I got anything out. I'm ashamed of myself, I really am. I really hope you guys can forgive me for the long four month wait and enjoy this chapter.

Also, this story has broken 100 reviews. I'm pretty happy about that. Thanks to everyone for your support.

Well, not much else to really say other than I don't own Danny Phantom. All I own is this idea and the OCs. Aside from that, nothing else is mine.

Chapter Twenty-One: Loyalty, Lies, and Love

"He's using the ghosts? But that's-"

"Not so loud," Angela said suddenly, clamping a hand over Wraith's mouth as two ghosts walked by to start looking in a new section. Angela was not hiding, seeing the ghosts as no threat, but something told her it was best to try and make sure this conversation was not heard, even if it was by mindless drones. She did not want to risk it getting back to the Observant. She had officially decided the less she had to do with him, the better off she was in the long run.

The teenage halfa glared and knocked her hand away, but she didn't reprimand him for it. Honestly, she wasn't in the mood. Let him be as anti-social as he wanted if it made him feel better.

"I guess that's why some of them have been going missing," Wraith noted. "But why them? Why not power the shield himself?"

"I asked him the same thing," she informed him. "His answer wasn't exactly what I'd call pleased with the questioning in rank either. He thinks himself too busy to bother with it himself. I don't know how true that is and if he's afraid it could hurt him, but the point is he won't strap himself in and he's sacrificing others because of it."

Wraith looked a little ashamed and hung his head a bit.

"I'm sorry," he said, surprising her.

"What?" she asked. "Why?"

"I was the one who got the book," he explained. "He told me to come and I-"

"Look, let's not start with the whole guilt game, okay? Don't say it's your fault," she interrupted him. "Did you pick my world on purpose for some reason?"

"Of course not," he snapped back. "I didn't even know any of you at the time. Why would I have gotten this one intentionally?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she replied. She noticed his confused expression and shook her head in exasperation. "Look, I know you didn't chose mine out of some sick game or anything. It was just bad luck, incredibly bad luck at that, but isn't that how life is sometimes? I don't have the energy to be wasting getting mad at you, especially over something so menial and stupid anyway. It could have as easily been another world. You were just carrying out orders. It would be pretty shitty of me to blame you for this, even before you start considering what I'm doing myself."

"So then, what are we going to do about it?"

"What makes you think I intend to do a damn thing about it?" she questioned him evenly.

"I don't understand. Aren't you angry about it? I mean, they don't really deserve what they're getting, do they?"

She arched her eyebrow. For a kid out for blood and murder, he sure was acting compassionate all of a sudden. Then again, it wasn't Danny tied to that machine. Wraith didn't have a single reason to wish any of those ghosts harm, and it looked like some of daddy's lessons were still rattling around in his head. She sighed and rolled her eyes, more and more convinced with every conversation that he was not cut out for this sort of work.

"I do care," she replied. "But look at it like this. Just like what I just said before, my world could have been passed over, could have been spared, but if that had happened, if we hadn't been picked, it would have just been another broken world that would have been used for this instead. And then mine would have been obliterated with this big 'cleanse the multiverse' plan of his. When you look at it, we actually got a half-way decent deal. At least I can protect the people that matter to me."

"But what about these people?"

"If there was something that could be done maybe," she responded, "but there isn't. It's just how it is and we need to get past it. Besides, I can hardly turn around at this point in the game and pretend those people, or even myself for that matter, are innocent. Perhaps this is just our karma biting it in the ass and I only hate it because it's actually somewhat fair. Who knows."

"Then why did you bother to tell me about it if you weren't going to do anything?" he asked.

"So he can't take you," she stated honestly. "I'm worried, but what are you suggesting, that we go against him? That's bullshit. We're working for him for our own reasons. There's nothing to gain by telling him to stop. Trust me, I already tried. And as much as I don't like to admit it, these guys don't know what's happening to them anyway and none of them are my charges. You on the other hand… Well, I'd hate it if you got thrown in there as some battery. So watch your back."

"You really think he'd use me?" he asked slowly. She was not sure if his wary tone was because he had not thought of this yet, or if the idea had in fact occurred to him and she had just validated his worries.

"I don't think he really cares about us, or about any of the pawns that he has," Angela said with a sigh. "He spares us because we do what he wants, but I think if his needs concerning us changed we would be in very real danger. You're powerful, but he might start seeing it as a chance to charge up his little shield rather than fight his enemies. After all, according to what he thinks, he doesn't have anyone that can touch him anymore, now does he?"

Wraith did look a little unnerved by the news. Angela felt pretty justified in warning him. She didn't think the boy had ever completely trusted him, but really she didn't think this had occurred to him either. He, despite all of his rage, was not experienced enough to be paranoid like she was. Everything had the possibility of being a threat, and seeing them for what they could be was second nature to her by now.

"We're close to this being over," she informed him. "Once he has whatever book he's looking for, it'll be done with and we can go on about our lives. Course, if we actually knew what book he wanted and why, we might've be able to help look instead of just twiddling our thumbs. I've tried to keep things organized, but to be honest, I'm not needed right now. I don't suppose you happen to know which text he's searching for?"

"No idea," he said with a shake of his head. "He's never told me exactly what he was planning. Only that he was going to cleanse the reality using this place and most wouldn't survive it."

"Of course," she sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Not like we deserve to know what's going on. Which is exactly what has me worried. He told me if it looked like there wouldn't be enough people for the shield he would get others, but I don't see how he can get others in here past this shield. Yeah, he can pick any book he wants and start controlling all the people and ghosts there, but how's he gonna get him here to use them? It's suspicious and I just want you to be aware of it. If it looks like he's going to betray you, just remember you don't have any real loyalty to this guy, okay?"

He nodded.

"I understand. Thanks for warning me."

"No problem," she replied.

"But…" he said slowly. "Why bother telling me? I mean, what do you care if I get thrown in there?"

She looked puzzled for a second, as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Because I like you kid," she replied, ruffling his hair. "Okay, you're a moody brat, but you have your reasons. Besides, you're the only one here I can actually talk to. I'd rather you stick around instead of just getting your soul bled dry to a hunk of fucking metal. Besides, if he starts seeing us as kindling I'd rather try and get out with backup than on my own. If we have to get out, I'd like it if you came with. It'd be nice to have you around anyway."

She smiled down at him before she patted his shoulder and walked away. Wraith frowned a bit before he sighed softly as he touched his shoulder tentatively. She wanted him around, huh? It had been a while since someone had said something like that to him.

He wondered if she actually meant it.

#-#

Danny had to admit, perhaps choosing to meet at his house had not been the best planning on his part. He'd been rushed, granted, what with the time pressing break out and all, but it hardly justified it. He had gotten home only a short time after Dani, Tucker, and Sam, and before he even had a chance to ask how everyone was doing he was scooped up by his parents and being squeezed within an inch of his life.

He supposed it was better than being grounded, but only barely.

"Mom, Dad!" he cried, his legs kicking air before they finally released him back on the ground. "Geez, overreacting much?"

"Don't you give us that, young man," Maddie immediately scorned, wagging her finger at him. "You've barely told us a word of what was going on and then Dani comes in with the story you had all been arrested! How did you expect us to react?"

Danny shot his clone and glare and she shrugged with a guilty look on her face.

"Jazz drilled it out of me," she reasoned. "We have been gone a lot."

"By the way," his older sister said as she moved past her two parents, still wearing angrily worried expressions. She pointed to Samantha standing behind Danny and arched an eyebrow. "Just who is that?"

"Uh… actually, this is Sam… sorta," he explained. "She's from a different world than ours, but she's still Sam. She promised to help us when this whole thing first started."

Samantha smiled politely, pointedly ignoring the overly scientific curiosity looks she was receiving from both Jack and Maddie. It looked like they wanted either start asking her survey questions or cut her open, and with her experience with them, she had to honestly wonder how serious a possibility they both were.

"Nice to meet you both," she said, holding her hand forward. Danny's mother shook it to be diplomatic, as did Jazz, but when it got to Jack he gripped it so tightly as he shook her whole arm enthusiastically she winced and had to check her fingers for possible bruising when he finally let her go.

"So, Dani said something about all of us talking this over when we got out of Walker's place? Tucker asked. "Because I'll be honest, between all of the rooms we keep getting locked in, we haven't had much chance to just sit down and go through everything that's been happening."

"Yeah, I know I certainly wouldn't mind an explanation. I mean, you told us all about the multiverse and that whole thing, but how exactly did you go from rescuing Sam and Tucker to getting mixed up with Walker again?" Jazz questioned.

Well, Danny had said once he got back they were going to need to plan things out. It sounded like the best thing to do was to fill everyone in on the current news and see what could be done about it. Before that though…

"Where's Clockwork?" he asked. "I mean, isn't he here by now?"

"He hasn't show up yet," Dani informed him. "But wait. You actually want him to come here with…?"

Danny immediately got her point and paled. Oh right.

"Why wouldn't you want him to show up?" Maddie asked, as if sensing her children misbehaving on mothering instincts alone.

"No reason," they said at the same time, both sounding a bit too eager to convince. The woman arched an eyebrow, not seeming to buy it for a second.

"Danny, what's going on here?" she asked. "What are you hiding?"

The teenaged half ghost would have loved to deny the fact that he was hiding anything and this was all a misunderstanding, but he had high doubts that she was going to swallow that, especially since his dad was starting to look just as suspicious. And when Jack Fenton thought something was up, there wasn't really much one could do to convince him otherwise, even if everything was actually okay.

But what could he do? Just tell them, "Well Mom and Dad, in an alternate future you were all killed and as a result I thought it would be a good grieving method to try to destroy the whole world over a period of ten years. By the way, that evil me is walking around because he's been roped into helping me against his will and is probably going to be dropping by with Clockwork. Hope that's okay."? Yeah, that would work out well.

"Well, the thing is that… I… uh," Danny said, hoping an explanation would come to him. It wasn't working though and a quick look at Sam shrugging and Tucker shaking his head didn't giving him anything to go with either. "Okay, you know what? Fine. This is going to sound crazy, but I can't exactly hide it, can I? The truth is-"

"He picked up more than one friend along the way," Dan supplied from behind Danny, arms crossed and smirking.

The teen's blood went cold and he whirled around to see… well, himself. A teenager with black hair and dressed in normal clothing of jeans and a t-shirt, matching him exactly. It was no mistake that it was Dan though, his cold voice still the same as before and his eyes instead of the blue they should have been were red instead, not to mention his cocky expression at Danny's confused one immediately let him know he was being taunted. Oh yeah, this was definitely him.

He almost felt like slapping his forehead. He had completely forgotten about his ability to make himself like this.

"You'll have to forgive our late arrival," Clockwork said from next to the smirking doppelganger that everyone was staring at as he closed the door behind him. "We were running a little late in our encounter with Mr. Walker. I hope you didn't start without us."

It was honestly amazing just how easily this caused the whole room of either flabbergasted or thoroughly confused people to feel embarrassed for just standing around, even though that was all that they'd been able to do before he had arrived. Maddie was immediately leading everyone into the kitchen and asking Jack to get some extra chairs as if she were entertaining at a party and was worried about being a bad hostess. Something Danny and Jazz personally knew she had NEVER worried about as she'd never put much stock into being a Martha Stewart sort of homemaker to begin with.

Still, Danny soon found himself seated with the weirdest group of people he'd ever had together in his dining room, and considering his family he felt that was saying a lot. Clockwork had _somehow_ ended up with a cup of tea that no one had any memory of giving him but the halfa quickly decided he wasn't going to ask about it.

"Well Danny, I do believe we were going to get an explanation from you on what you know before we discussed what we were going to do," the ghost reminded him.

"Right," he said. Looks like it was time to get down to business. "Well, I think everyone here knows what was going on before I last left. The Library, the other worlds, and the fact someone was out to take control of them. Well, basically up from that point we found out who was behind all of this, an Observant that was banished by the others for having pretty radical ideas. He's out to kill everything that he doesn't think is good enough to live, literally. We thought we'd caught him, but to be honest…"

"We messed up," Sam explained. "It wasn't actually him, just some shadow. We'd taken 'him' to the Council and started explaining how we had found him before suddenly it just faded away. They didn't take it well either and we were getting surrounded by all the guards before we even had a chance to explain. They didn't say why, just starting attacking on the grounds we had 'Interfered too much.' I mean really, is that any reason to put anyone in jail?"

"This is Walker we're talking about," Dani said with a shrug. "Breathing in the Ghost Zone is a reason to go to jail to him. Why would the Observants be much different?"

"No," Clockwork said. "In this case it's more than that. Danny, you said that the Observant was in the Library and had locked himself away. We had already told the Council it was in the Library the we thought Opal had captured him. They put two and two together rather quickly and decided since there wasn't anything they could do about it, we would have to be punished for helping the situation along."

"Walker did say something about there being a force field," Danny replied. "But he said it could be broken through eventually."

"Walker is right and wrong at the same time," Clockwork stated. "The shield can't be broken. There is no force that can penetrate it. One could fire at it all day and it wouldn't so much as crack. Breaking it is not an option."

"So what is our option then, oh grand one," Dan muttered, resting his chin in his hand and looking fairly bored.

"The truth is, the shield is impenetrable until the force that is powering it is depleted. Scrinium used it to keep others out during times of war. He's the only one who can maintain the power level forever. It has little to do with his amount of power actually, but more that the machine was designed to work for him alone. Even I couldn't keep it going without it hurting me eventually," Clockwork explained. "I think we can rule out that Scrinium suddenly came home and decided to keep the Observant in there with him though, so I think it's fair to deduce that the Banished One was able to figure out how to still use the machine. Even if that's so, he has to be burning through whatever he's using as power rather quickly. But the thing about the shield? Nothing can get past it, either going in, or getting out."

"So what you're saying is that whatever energy he is using, it's going to die out eventually, and he can't get anymore?" Tucker asked. "Well, sweet. Then we just wait him out."

"Problem with that though," Samantha cut in, "the Banished One told us his plan, or the basics of it anyway. He's going to destroy the worlds that he doesn't feel deserve to live. He'll write them so they don't exist anymore. By the time he's not able to power the shield any longer, he could already be done with his work, even given how many there are."

"But can't it just be fixed then?" Jazz asked. "The way Danny explained it to us was that any damage done to the books could be rewritten and it'd be like it never happened. If the world is destroyed, could it be restored then?"

"It could be," Clockwork replied. "Which is why I'm certain we don't know his whole plan. He's in the Library but he doesn't have forever in there and when we did get in, we could fix what he's done. The only thing he could do is take all of the books with him but there are too many to ever be able to move them around conveniently. It would slow him down and beg for him to get caught. He was boasting of ruling like a king. I doubt he plans to hide like a rat for the rest of eternity. He has an ace in his sleeve that he thinks will ensure his victory, even if it does look like he's just shut himself into a trap."

"And this isn't even against just us," Danny agreed. "According to Walker, the Observants are already trying to get in. Bet they have everyone attacking it with all they got, or at least waiting until the shield fails. He has to have some plan covering that base."

"Do you think it's that Opal girl?" Maddie asked. "You said she was taken by this Observant. Maybe he plans on holding her to keep anyone from coming in the Library, even if the shield does go down."

"No," Dani said as she shook her head. "The other Observants don't really like her too much. I don't think they care much about her."

"This is true," Clockwork agreed. "They would easily secrafise her if they thought it was necessary. While I don't think any of them _want_ her dead, if it meant stopping this whole ordeal, I don't think they'd hesitate. As a hostage, she's worthless to him. In fact, he probably doesn't have a reason to keep her alive at all."

"Clockwork," Dani said softly but he shook his head.

"It's the risk involved. I don't see why she would be dead yet, but the possibility is open. We won't know until we're inside," he stated.

"And we still need a way to get inside, I can't help but notice," Dan muttered.

"Yeah, just how exactly do we get in?" Sam asked. "Waiting isn't going to really work. It'd be playing right into his hands and he'd be expecting a storm of the gates. Besides, if you guys are right and we don't have his whole angle figured out, he might have won before he even runs out of power for this shield. We need to take the fight to him and get in somehow. So, how do we do that?"

"Gee, I thought it was pretty simple, actually."

Everyone turned to look at Jack who had surprisingly not uttered a single word throughout this whole conversation. He was just sitting there and now looking back at them as a if they were discussing a math equation and he had blurted out the answer without even having to work out any of it in his head.

"You know how to get in?" Dan asked. His tone suggested just how possible he really thought that was, causing Danny and Jazz to glare at him. Jack on the other hand, didn't seem to notice.

"This shield is made to work from a ghost's energy, right? It's an amplifier of his own power. Since he's a ghost, that means the shield is just ecto-energy, just like everything else in the Ghost Zone. Why not just use one of anti-ecto devices to slip right through?"

Everyone stared at him for a second in silence before looking back at Clockwork.

"Theoretically, it could work," he admitted. "Of course, there was never going to be a time that a human would try to attack the Library with any anti-ghost device. Seems to be another thing that has changed in the timeline since the Banished One got the Quill."

"Oh Jack, you're a genius!" Maddie cried as she flung her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "Leave it to my husband to figure out how to save the multiverse."

"Aww shucks. Just in a day's work," he replied with a smile.

Dan rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Well, since that's been decided, we still need to know exactly how we get in," he said. "Any more bright ideas?"

"We could probably use the Specter Speeder," Maddie said. "We can put as much power as we can into the anti-ghost shield to make it as strong as possible. It should be able to slip right in, like a bubble inside of another bubble. It probably won't be easy, but we could do it. Clockwork, could you work with Jack and I on that? If we have any numerical data on just how that shield could be, it'll make this a lot easier to collaborate."

"I'd be happy to assist," he replied.

"How long do you think this will all take?" Danny asked curiously to which Maddie laughed softly.

"Long enough for you to all get a bit of a rest," she supplied. "I can't imagine we'll be done any time soon, and you all look exhausted. Everyone should get some rest. And you two," she was suddenly pointing at Sam and Tucker, "you both need to get home and let your parents know you're okay. They both been sick with worry since this whole thing started. I can't let you keep them worried."

"But, they aren't going to let us stick with Danny!" Sam insisted. "Come on, my parents are crazy!"

"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "I mean, we did this stuff all the time and were just fine. Danny needs us."

"Still, you need to call them and ask. If they say yes, you can stay, but it is up to them," Maddie replied.

"You know they won't," Sam muttered as she crossed her arms. "The second I call them they'll be by to pick me up as soon as they can."

"Well, then that's their decision," Maddie said. "And I'll be calling them myself in a while to make sure they've been contacted. Just make it easier on them and you and let them know you're safe."

"Listen to her, kids," Jack said as he stood up, already looking excited to be working on a new project. "Who knows, they might say yes."

"Doubt it," Tucker said before he shrugged. "I don't have my phone anymore. I'll need to use the phone here."

"No problem, dear," Maddie said as she and her husband went down to the lab with Clockwork.

As Tucker made off to make the call, Sam sighed and crossed her arms before glancing at Danny.

"Come on," she said before grabbing his arm and yanking him out of the room before he could even get out a startled yell.

"You ever do that to me, I am tearing your arms off," Dan hissed at Samantha, who only smirked and gave a shrug.

"You know," Jazz said, the only one left in the room aside from these two, "I think I have studying to do. Bye."

Samantha watched her run off with an arched eyebrow and shook her head.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh Danny?" she asked.

He merely snorted in reply, but it made her smile anyway.

#-#

Danny looked up at the starry sky from the observing deck of Fenton Works before coughing slightly.

"You know, you are going to have to call them," he said gently. "I know you don't want to, but Mom isn't going to let you stay seeing as this is dangerous."

"Can't you just overshadow my parents for a couple minutes to say that it's okay?" she asked, her knees drawn up to her chest as she pouted. Well, she would say she was a Goth and Goths never pouted, they brooded, but Danny knew better. She was pouting.

Not that he'd say that to her face.

"Sam, you know as well as I do that Mom starting checking for green eyes the second she figured that trick of mine out, especially if she thinks they're saying something they normally wouldn't," he reminded her. "I'd like to let you stay, but I can't."

Sam sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "How am I going to know you're okay though?"

"It's natural to worry," he reassured her. "I was worried when Angela grabbed you and when Walker had you too."

"Yeah, but unlike you I'm tough enough to able to take care of myself. And I can take care of Tucker and you on top of that."

He laughed a bit.

"Oh right, I'd forgotten."

"I got you out of some tight spots," she replied, nudging him in the ribs, though she was smiling like him.

"I know," he said. "You are pretty tough. I wish I could say it'd be okay, but I don't know that for sure."

"Promise me," she said with a sigh. "Promise me it'll be okay and I'll believe you, no matter what."

He smiled down at her and wrapped an arm around her into a hug. They just sat like that for a few minutes, holding each other in the night.

"I promise," he said softly before cupping her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss.

End of Chapter Twenty-One

Just a bit of talking, theorizing, and bringing the characters who have not been around for everything up to speed. Added the little scene at the end because I just felt some sweetness needed to be added after the large amount of talking, both on the good guy's and the bad guy's sides.

Geez, I hating writing scenes with so many people. Everyone needs to be saying something or else you start to wonder why only two or three people talking out of all of them that were there. I think it flows pretty decently though. The next chapter will have action though, I promise you.

In any case, review if you will be so kind?


	22. Old Wounds

Ah, finally a little more action! I'm happy I've been getting some more time to work on this considering how ignored it's been lately. It's been one thing after another recently, but I'm happy to see I'm back in the upswing. Hopefully, it'll last for a while.

Well, as it's been stated exactly twenty-one times before in this fanfiction alone, I do not own Danny Phantom. He belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I am neither Butch nor Nickelodeon, so I say that takes care of the process of elimination well enough. That being said, please don't sue me. All I'm doing is paying tribute to a show that I love.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Old Wounds

"Well, they don't give up, do they?" Angela mused softly.

She was staring out one of the windows, hands clutched together behind her back. With little else to do in the Library, she had fallen back on old habits of her previous life when in the calm between fights. Observations, checking details, things that let her feel as if she was properly prepared. It was the only thing that was keeping her from going stir crazy right now, and the only thing she could really do that felt in any way productive was check on the enemy.

There were so many out there, tons of them. At the moment, she had calculated their numbers were about the same as what was in the Library, but with the time dragging on... It had already been another day, and nothing had been found, at least not that she had been informed of.

"You think they're trying to wait us out?" Wraith asked. Ever since their last talk, he had taken to... well, following her was the bluntest way put it. It had occurred to her he might have been doing it out of fear of the possibility of being grabbed, but she honestly doubted it. The kid was strong. He could take care of himself in a fight easily enough and he was prideful enough to think so to boot.

The merc had a hunch he wasn't staying close out of a need to be protected, but for something else. She had given him a kind word before, and then the warning to watch his back. Perhaps he wanted to stay because he sensed she could empathize with him, give him someone to connect with. Well, she had no reason to tell him to get lost, and she supposed she didn't mind the company as long as he didn't get in her way.

"No, I don't think so," she said softly as she watched another blast from the ghosts outside hit the shield. It didn't so much as ripple or crackle, or show any other sign of strain. "If they wanted to wait us out, they wouldn't be wasting all their energy trying to get in now. I think the Observant can keep them out as long as it takes, and I think they're afraid of that. They want to get in to grab us bad, and even if the odds are impossible, they aren't going to be willing to lie down and give up easily."

"They should know they can't though. They have to be waiting for us to make a mistake."

"I suppose it's possible, but it could be sheer desperation too," she replied. "This is essentially our stronghold at the moment. If they did get in, we'd have to defend it. Right now, I think we have the force to keep that at bay, but later on..."

"Later on we may not have those numbers," Wraith finished for her. "The longer we're inside of here, the longer we're at a disadvantage. But that's only if they can break the shield. The Observant says they can't get in though. According to him, that shield is impenetrable."

Angela wasn't about to contradict the theory. It certainly seemed solid, though she only had the Observant's word on that. Unfortunately, asking him for proof about this impenetrable fortress of his would probably not end well.

"I hate it in here," he muttered suddenly. "He's locked himself in that room, but what he's doing is anybody's guess. I don't understand. The whole point was to get a hold of the other worlds, for his cleansing. Don't we have what we need?"

"He says he's looking for a book in particular."

"But what book?" he yelled at her in frustration. She arched an eyebrow at his sudden outburst. Seemed she wasn't the only one starting to feel the confines of the Library. Strength or not, you could still get cabin fever all the same. She sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, I'll be damned if I know," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders before turning around suddenly, surprised.

"What? What is it?" Wraith asked.

"Didn't you hear that?" she asked him. "Shh. Just listen."

Something faint sounded, but this time Wraith heard it as well. The sound was soft, but there was no mistaking what it was. A scream carried past the stone walls and bookshelves, just loud enough to be barely heard.

"What in the world was that?" Wraith whispered.

"I don't know," Angela said as she narrowed her eyes. "But it definitely came from that direction."

Wraith didn't wait for anything else, making his way through in the direction she had indicated. Angela, rather than try to dissuade him, instead followed his pace as he walked. There was really only one place it could have been coming from anyway, and she was just as curious as he was about what was going on. Any information about anything at all would be an improvement at this rate.

Standing in front of the door of the room the Observant was in, she laid her hand on the handle. Honestly, as much as she was curious, she had to wonder if she really wanted to see what was going on on the other side of the door. The last visit hadn't been highly encouraging to her to go back in any time soon. But as another scream filled the air, much louder this time, she forced herself to set her reservations aside and push the door open.

The sight inside was not exactly what she was expecting. Her suspicions had just been that a prisoner for the machine was being more vocal than the others while being drained. However, instead she saw the librarian girl curled up on the floor, on her knees and her head bowed as she whimpered loudly. She looked like a mess, her hair unbound and several clumps torn out and on the floor around her, while her clothes were dirty and shredded all along the hem lines.

"No!" she screamed, her tone both frightened and angry. "No! Stop it!"

She writhed on the floor, choking for a second as the two watched her before glaring up at the wall.

"Foolish little human," the Observant growled from her body. "Tell me where it is! You know! I know you do!"

Opal throat sounded as if were going to tear from how loud she screamed this time. She dug her nails into her scalp and shook her head rapidly. Angela could see little rivulets of blood seeping from her head, into her blond hair and coating her nails. She was trembling violently and shaking her head, the way she moved reminding the mercenary of a toy been fought over by two children, tugged back and forth.

"I said tell me!"

Opal's body slumped forward, sprawled out on the floor. She didn't move for a moment before slowly pushing her body back up to her feet shakily. Her chest heaved a few moments as she sucked in harsh breaths before she looked up at the two at the doorway. Calmly, she patted herself off, as if they had not just witnessed her screaming and being interrogated for information of some kind. Her brow creased as she glared at the two of them.

"I guess she was trying to break the hold you had over her," Wraith said as he approached. "I wouldn't have figure she would have enough willpower to fight back like that."

"She's persistent," the Observant muttered. "She's been acting up ever since yesterday, but that was the worst. I was trying to interrogate her on the location of the book I need, but in order to get information from her, she must be conscious. Keeping her aware and staying in control is taxing on her body. Sadly, she's been in less than a giving mood."

Angela didn't think it was that surprising really. Human or not, this was her home, and fighting back against the Observant was her last chance to defend this place. Granted, she didn't think the girl would last much longer. She looked like hell. Angela had to wonder just how long he had been 'asking' for this information. She didn't seem like she was in very good shape. Of course, from the fit she'd been throwing, how much of that had been self-inflicted and how much of it was what the Observant had done to her in punishment for not talking?

"I didn't expect her to be this hard to break," the Observant said. "She's just a mortal after all."

Turning to look at the machine, the ghost possessing the woman's body sighed as her fingers curled into fists. Blood smeared on her palms from her nails.

"What exactly are you looking for anyway?" Wraith asked as he took a step toward the Observant. "I thought once we had this place you would be set. What are we waiting for?"

The Observant didn't reply, didn't say anything, just continued to stare up at the machine. It was if he was lost in thought all of a sudden, that or he didn't feel like answering the question.

"Hey!" Wraith snapped suddenly. "I asked you a question! I'm not going to be stuck in here when I could be out taking care of Danny Fenton for no good reason! What's so important that-"

"He wants a book," Opal's voice suddenly rang out as she whirled around and grabbed Wraith's throat. "But he's not going to get it. None of you are."

Before Angela could even react, Opal reached out behind her, grabbing a hold of the machine's wires and pulling with all of her might. The cords snapped easily, coursing with energy. Screams filled the air, but the voices were only Wraith's, and while Opal looked as if she were in horrible pain, it was the Observant's voice instead of her own.

"You thought I was going to stand by?" Opal hissed as she grit her teeth. "You thought I would surrender my library, my home, my secrets to you? How dare you take a creation of my father's and pervert it to meet your own sick goals! I REFUSE TO STAND FOR IT!"

Angela rushed forward to pull Wraith out of her grasp, but it was too late. Yanking the boy forward, Opal shoved him into the machine's broken wires as easily as if he were a doll. Before the mercenary could even touch the librarian, something in the machine seemed to overload, an explosion erupting mere moments later.

Getting thrown back by the force of it, Angela shielded her eyes from the light and heat as she crashed to the stone floor. Grunting from the pain, she pushed herself up to look around, trying to see what had happened. Scrapped pieces of metal and wire littered the floor, Wraith's body on the ground... and so was the Observant's. Opal was panting, sparking pieces of wire still in her hand.

"You never should have come here," she breathed harshly, glaring at the mercenary. Torn and bloody, the librarian looked crazed and desperate. "The ghost is still hooked up to my father's machine, but you really believe it is going to stay in place much longer with the shape it's in?"

A loud boom caused Angela to look behind herself. What had that been? Oh shit, was the shield starting to break down? Half the machine looked to be blown to hell! How well could she really expect it work?

Looking back around herself, she cursed when she saw Opal suddenly make a break for it. Running straight at the wall, she yanked a golden circlet off of her arm before she slipped through it as easily as if it weren't there at all.

"Goddammit!" Angela yelled as she scrambled up. She'd forgotten all about humans being able to move so freely through the Ghost Zone. She broke out into the a run after her, though she was more than a little tempted to snap her neck when she caught her so she didn't cause any more problems.

"Stop her!" she commanded the others. "She's getting away. Do anything you have to! Just stop her!"

Opal however seemed to have the advantage here. She knew the Library more than any of the others, and it was easy for her to duck and dodge through the shelves or furniture out of their grasp. Angela knew she didn't have a chance in hell to fight all of them off, but if she didn't seem to be interested in fighting.

Breathing hard, Opal dove through another wall, her body screaming in protest. Forcing herself to try to keep her breathing steady and not hyperventilate, she looked around herself. The ghosts were already swarming around her again. She didn't have much longer.

"Oh dear god, please let this work," she gasped before grabbing a book off the shelf and running past another shelf just in time to avoid a blast sent her way. She was so close.

"Got you!" Angela yelled triumphantly as she jumped the woman when she emerged from the shelf, tackling her to the ground.

Gasping in pain and surprise, she cried out loudly as Angela yanked up her arm and twisted it crudely.

"Figured if I slipped this on before at just the right moment I'd have you," Angela hissed. She had jammed the bracelet back onto the woman's arm and glared down at her. "This makes you solid here, doesn't it? I imagine living in the Ghost Zone without the accessories of your would make things a little difficult for you. Thought if you ditched it, I couldn't attack you? Well guess what, you're as solid as I am now."

"Yes, you are correct. I am," Opal breathed before swiping at Angela's face. Nails digging into her face, a thumb shoved into the soft iris of her eye. "But you are too!"

Angela reeled back as she howled in agony, clutching at the right side of her face that was currently gushing with blood. Red hot liquid seeped through her green fingers while her mind exploded in pain as Opal took her chance to get to her feet quickly and continue to run.

"You fucking bitch! I'm going to get you for that!" the female merc screamed after her as she ran.

Panting, Opal just kept going, her steps shaky but she forced herself to keep moving anyway as she clutched the heavy book to her chest. Skidding to a stop in front of a large vault door, she grunted as she pulled it open. Looking up wildly, she saw the hoards of ghosts coming towards her, advancing and closing in on her location quickly. Giving the door one last harsh tug, she threw the book inside before pulling the door shut behind her, locking it just as she heard something slam against it.

"No," she breathed. "No, no, no."

Crawling quickly towards the book, she was near tears as she opened it, flipping through pages frantically. Bangs and thuds pounded at the door as she forced herself to stand, slamming the book on the pedestal.

"Have to get out," she sobbed. "Please... please work... please, please, please..."

Gasping in lungfuls of air, she planted a bloody hand on the pages of the book, chanting as best she could as she watched the stone doorway crackle with energy. It was weak though, like a candle trying to light but the wick unwilling to catch aflame. Her eyes widened as she looked behind her at a particularly loud thud against the door. The steel was coming off, the hinges starting to twists.

"No!" she cried, tears running down her face as she looked back at the portal. "Work! Please!" Suddenly the sound of glass shattering sounded, loudly amplified somehow so that it surrounded her, echoing off all of the walls. The portal suddenly burst into life and she dove for it, throwing herself into it just as the door crashed to the floor and the ghosts flooded into the room.

Panting on the tiled floor, Opal quickly backed away from the portal, pushing herself along the floor with her legs. The blood squeaked under her against the tiles as she saw a book lying on the floor next to her. Tears flowing from her eyes by now, she threw the heavy text at the portal, a mirror on the side she was on now. Glass broke under the book, shattering and falling to the floor in chunks and slivers before she let herself slump to the ground, crying her eyes out. She rocked gently on the floor as she wrapped her arms around herself. She just cried for the longest time, hugging herself, as if it would make everything that happened go away.

Soft thuds sounded, coming closer steadily to where she was laying. If she heard them, she didn't show it, only continuing to weep and rock herself gently. The footsteps echoed for a few minutes before they finally stopped short. Opal looked up slowly, lifting her head from the cocoon of safety she'd formed with her arms and had previously pushed her face into to look at the person before her. Her gaze was met, but only for a moment before it wandered over to the shattered mirror, glass littering the floor and the book she'd smashed it with. A soft growl of annoyance sounded, but she was too tired to care too much.

"How long have you had a way to access my home?"

She breathed in deep, trying to calm down enough to answer the question. It took her several minutes to be able to stop her tears though, and even longer to keep her chest from feeling like it was on fire. Sniffling, she wiped at her tear-streaked face and eyes with her sleeves and took a deep breathe.

"I... came here for aid," she explained, looking down at the floor instead of the other person.

"That's not what I asked. How long have you been able to come here? Has that mirror always been a gateway in here?"

"Well...yes. For as long as your home has existed, to speak honestly," she sighed. "The book is one of yours that you had written when alive. It's connected to you, and I used it as an escape. My home is in danger, everything is. I know you do not want me here but there was little choice. I had no options left to me. I was trapped, and just managed to escape."

"Figures. And how did I just know you were going to come here eventually with your damn problems? Seems you can't just keep your misfortune to yourself. Not much has changed."

"I have already said I did not have any choice," she said softly. "I-"

"Oh, don't start that," he hissed. "You would think I had made myself clear before. I don't want to be bothered, especially by you. You just figured it was okay to come to me though, despite the promise I have from you and your father to leave me alone. Oh no, personal integrity and honor go right out the window when you want something."

She stared up at the man in front of her, and Ghostwriter glared right back. While not a large or intimidating ghost, she had seen him angry before and did not have the energy to want to see it again. Still, she had accomplished her escape, but she stood her without any resources. No idea of what was going on, where anyone was, or what her next step needed to be. As much as he didn't like it, she did need his help. Eventually she stood and did her best to smooth down her clothes in an attempt to be presentable. While she may have been scratched and dirty, begging on the floor would do her no good.

"I have not approached you for years, and my father let you continue on with the understanding he was shielding you from those who would want to see you destroyed. You owe him at the very least," she stated as she tried to keep her voice even. "I understand your venom, and I have not forgotten it, but this is not between you and I. There are dangers out there, dangers that need to be stopped, or everything is forfeit. I am not asking you to forgive me. This does however threaten us all, including you. Be bitter, be angry, I do not expect anything less, but please, lend your help. I need to find Clockwork."

"I take it this has to do with that library of yours getting taken over by some insane Observant?" he asked levelly.

"Wha... How do you know about that?" she asked him, bewildered.

"Rumors have been going around crazy for days now. Every soldier at the Observant's disposal has been trying to get past the shield that was erected around it for a while now. Something like that's a little hard not to notice. Of course, when it got out Clockwork broke out of Walker's prison-"

"My uncle was in prison?" she exclaimed. "Why? How?"

He looked over her sorry state and shook his head.

"You have no idea what's going on, do you?" he asked. "And they say I'm secluded. Then again, the rumors running around have been impossible to ignore, and from the look of you, you were in the Library when it got taken over. Bringing useless to new levels, are we?"

She swallowed hard at the insults thrown in her face, but even if she were in the state to argue, she wouldn't have. It was true, every word of it, and she deserved the lashing. Everything had gone wrong, and it was her fault. She hadn't been strong enough either times her home had been intruded upon, and now everyone else was paying the piper for her errors. The very last person she should have ever expected compassion from was him anyway.

"If you're expecting me to grab my keyboard and fix everything, you should know as well as I do that can't work. My powers are temporary, and only continue while I write. Besides, do you honestly think even if I didn't have those limitations, I could ever sway an Observant of all things?" he snorted.

"Why was my uncle arrested?" she asked him again.

"Apparently the Observants ordered it, but why I can't say I know why. Of course, it was about the same time the shield went up. Looks like your bosses decided to take things into their own hands," he informed her as he smirked. "Of course, all I know are rumors. Vortex has been spreading the news like the damn Energizer Bunny. Everyone knows he can never shut up when anything exciting happens though most of the info has holes everywhere. The theories are getting a little crazy to be frank. I don't think anyone has any idea what's really going on since the Observants are usually so passive and tight-lipped about everything. None of them have come close to guessing why a banished Observant is holed up in what is pretty much a library of all things, but I had a feeling it might have something to do with a little Quill I'm so familiar with," he muttered out the last part scathingly.

She opened her mouth to say something, paused, and then nodded her head.

"I have no reason to hide it. I can only thank whatever is merciful that most don't know about the Quill, though with everything happening, I must wonder how long that will last. Of course, I think that is really the least of our concerns, as much as I would have disbelieved those very words mere days ago."

"Really?" he asked as he arched an eyebrow. "An artifact that could let him reshape any world he wants and it's not a concern?"

"I did not say that, only that they are more pressings matters," she reiterated. "I must speak with my uncle. The Banished One, what he had planned was no take over, not in the way we had thought. His visions were more than to just pervert any world he could. He wants to destroy everything and start fresh, and he plans to do it as soon as possible."

"Is that why he took over the Library?" Ghost Writer asked, leaning against a bookshelf with his arms crossed. "To have access to all the books?"

"I thought so at first, but no," she replied as she shook her head. "He wants _**the**_ book. _Alpha_. The first and original. The one that records the keepers: the Observants and their servants, every part of the Ghost Zone that there is only one of that connect all the other worlds. He plans to use this book to accomplish his goal. Taking the Quill, conquering a whole world and amassing an army of slaves, then claiming the Library as his own, it was only to give him the time and resources to find it."

"And how exactly is he going to use this book to destroy everything? The Quill?" he asked. "Don't tell me something like that can be done so easily."

"I am afraid that is what does not make sense," she answered. "I do not understand how such a book could aid him. It can not be rewritten, can not be changed and he could not control anyone with it. He should not be able to use this book to erase all the worlds no more than he could use a simple text book to. What he wants to do should be impossible. And yet... it should not have been possible for him to escape to begin with. He may be insane, but he is not a fool. I do not know how he plans to do any of this, but think it is a fair enough guess that he knows a way."

"Sounds like you should probably be telling Clockwork this then," he snorted.

"I lost contact with him some time ago," she replied. "The last time I saw him, he had left with Danny Phantom in order to apprehend the Banished One. After that..." She fell silent and shook her head, sure the poor condition she was in spoke louder than words. "I had no idea the Observants had done anything so extreme. But if he's escaped, he could be anywhere. I doubt he would have retreated to the Clock Tower. They would have searched there first. Perhaps the Fenton's home, but their portal is so far from here. I have to get to him and I have to see if I can learn what is happening at the Library. I have no doubt the Banished One will try to escape in the chaos. Who knows what his next step could be."

"Well, if you have a heading, then I suggest you get out there and set sail," Ghost Writer grunted, pushing himself off from his bookcase. "I think I know enough to know I don't want to be any part of this mess of yours."

"What?" she asked. "But everything I have told you, I came here for help. I need your talents."

"To do what, exactly?" he snapped back at her. "You think just because I wanted to settle my curiosity of why you thought it was okay to barge into my home and find out what was going on out there, I actually felt like helping you?"

"Yes, I did," she replied evenly.

"Well then you are even more delusional then the last time I saw you!" he exclaimed. "What do you want me to do? I can't fix everything and make it all better. I don't have that kind of strength! I'm not some dues ex machina you can turn to and use to solve all the damn problems you make! Maybe if you weren't so careless, you wouldn't have lost the damn Quill in the first place! Hell, if you ask me, that thing shouldn't even exist! You should have burned it years ago. A stupid selfish girl like you shouldn't have the authority to control anyone's lives!"

"I am sorry!" she cried out. "It was my fault! Is that what you want? Have I not said it enough? I make no attempt to hide my guilt, and I never have! If it is not satisfactory to you to hear me apologize, then tell me what I can do! I am not above begging, but I do not know what it is you want! Inform me of what I must accomplish to get you to lend me your aid! I would do anything, I would take back the fact that I killed you if I could!"

Ghost Writer simply glared at her before shaking his head.

"What would you even want me to do?" he asked. "I couldn't fix any of your broken worlds, I can't even affect anything except in this one, and only as long as I'm writing. I have no hold over any Observant; they would have destroyed me if your master hadn't convinced them that was impossible for me to do. If this banished Observant is controlling slaves, I couldn't even free them because they're under his control. I can't do anything. I can't even make him tell you what his big plan is, so what _**exactly**_ am I supposed to do?"

"If I thought you could fix anything of that magnitude, I would have come to you first, before even my uncle I think," she replied honestly as she wilted a little. "But you can affect things, can change them a little. You could bring someone here with your keyboard, to let me find out what was going on. I would leave with them to go back to Clockwork, I promise."

"As if your promises mean anything," he muttered. "No. I'm not bringing anyone here. I'm not getting involved. I don't want to be involved."

She stood there, watching him glare at her and let loose a soft sigh.

"You will do nothing?" she asked him. "Nothing at all?"

"Hadn't planned on it," he replied. "But I do want you out of here, so I will do one thing for you. I'll take you to the Fenton's to get you out of here, but if you're wrong, if Clockwork isn't there, I'm not doing anything else, so don't bother to come back to me for help. You figure it out on your own."

Opal realized she didn't have much room to bargain. As it was, he was doing more for her than he had to, or probably even wanted to. She had to accept it. Beggars could not be choosers after all. If Clockwork was not there, she would have to search elsewhere, but at least this way she would be able to eliminate one location from her list of places to search. Perhaps there would be clues about where to go next there, even if her uncle wasn't.

End of Chapter Twenty-Two

It's pretty rare for Opal to get her own chapter. In fact, I think this is the first chapter that solely focuses on her without bringing out one of the more main characters (ignoring for a moment the P.O.V. was actually on Angela for a short bit). As it is, my OC has been little more than plot exploit, explaining what's going on and giving options on where Danny and Co. might want to go next. Despite this, I have been dropping little hints of her character here and there.

As some of you with keen memories might remember, she has expressed disdain for the Quill and its effects before, and mentioned a sin of hers. Well, as you can see, here are a few more hints on her own back story. Yes, she really did kill Ghost Writer, meaning of course she must have known him while he was still alive. And heck, if this guy can get bitter and pissed off about a book of his getting burnt to ashes, I don't think he would be happy with the person who ended his life coming along and asking him with help for something that is honestly pretty much over his head for reasons he pointed out very insistently. While I think most of the dots are coming together on what might be going on between those two, I'll let you make your theories, but I promise a full explanation will be coming out in the next chapter.

And no, there is no romantic interest between them, and there never was. Don't think I suddenly got the urge to start shipping one of my OCs with a canon character. None of that is going to be going on in this story. Besides, as you can see, he pretty much can't stand her guts.

I enjoyed that I was able to use him to point out a lot of her flaws, because yes, she is as flawed as any other person out there. She's screwed up on epic levels, and Ghost Writer doesn't really care about how she tried, he's happy to point out how's she fucking everything up, unlike say Clockwork or Danny who are both more concerned with fixing the problem than laying blame. Perhaps he's laying it on thick, but I don't really think so. After all, it's true, and when the multiverse hangs in the balance of being wiped out, does it matter that she tried? No. It matters that she was suppose to keep the books or Quill from falling into the wrong hands, something she failed at because she felt secure. As someone who is a human in the Ghost Zone, she relied heavily on her father and Clockwork. Surely if there had ever been an attack intended for the Library, her uncle would have told her about it long before it could ever happen? Even as seriously as she took her job, she never thought it would ever really be more than watching the books in the Library. She wasn't prepared for the possibility of any _real_ threat, and now everyone is paying for it. I think I enjoy her character so much is because as my character, I can say that yes, it is all her fault, and show someone pointing it out to her, something that perhaps Clockwork should have done in the beginning.

On the escape scene though, I must admit I had felt for a while as if I had tied my own hands. I had looked forward to this chapter for a long time, but as it got closer, I became more and more worried. I had never intended Opal to ever be proficient in fighting, and I did my best to show that, mostly by her own admission and when she was pretty much beat twice in her own home. So how could I write a chapter where she single-handedly destroyed the shield and escaped an army of ghosts? It was suppose to be her time to shine, but how to pull that off without suddenly changing what she was capable of?

After all, would it not be rather Mary Sue for her to suddenly be able to kick the crap out of an entire army and bypass other impossible odds for no reason other than that's what the plot needed at the moment?

I had never intended of course for her to really beat much of anyone of course, but I had to wonder if the escape could be pulled off the way I had envisioned either. I didn't want anyone to rescue her; she had to be able to escape on her own. Luckily how I planned it worked well, or at least I hope so. She didn't really beat anyone, she just got away. It has touched upon in the show how possession can be fought against, albeit perhaps only slightly and at off moments (the case of Jack and Vlad in _Bitter Reunions_ as an example). It seemed to me that in seeing the horrors that were happening in her own home would give Opal enough willpower to get control back of her body for a few moments, long enough to get to the machine. As it only affects those with ecto-energy, grabbing it wouldn't damage her any, but she could use it to take out the biggest threats, being Wraith and the Observant long enough to give her a chance to run for it. In this case, the home field advantage saved her, knowing exactly what book to grab and where to go, plus the luck of the shield breaking down before she was caught again.

I really wanted to carry some helplessness and fear through all of that, mostly because it felt the most realistic to her character. If she had been caught, she knew what would have happened, and I think that fear is what kept her going in those desperate moments more than any inner strength or a sense of duty did.


End file.
